- YouTube’s masthead area for ads will no longer promote gambling to users.
- Due to the age of YouTubers, the internet platform has stopped its gambling, alcohol, political, and prescription drug ads from being available on computer screens.
- Commercials for these industries will still be available but users can stop these ads from appearing by changing the settings within their accounts.
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – As of Monday, YouTube has stopped showing certain ads on their platform’s masthead, including ads geared toward gambling. The announcement was made on Sunday by the internet company where advertisements about alcohol, politics, and prescription drugs were also said to be prohibited.
What’s The Masthead Slot?
The masthead slot is the area above any video presented on YouTube and the website itself. It is the banner area of space for ads and in essence, the first thing seen by visitors of the website.
Per research done by YouTube, this particular spot for advertisements drives the most traffic for what’s being marketed. One of the main reasons for this overall traffic surge is due to these advertisements being unable to be skipped like ads seen within videos.
YouTube’s Decision
Many YouTube users are under the age of 18. The platform felt it prudent not to glamorize online gambling to such young minds, as they can be susceptible to buy into such advertising.
After the announcement, these new rules were added to YouTube’s terms of use where they have clarified their new stance on marketing.
A ban on masthead internet gambling ads falls under this language in the platform’s new guidelines:
"Any assets that depict reference gambling-related content, including offline gambling, online gambling, online non-casino games and social casino games."
Gambling, especially sports betting, has grown in popularity nationwide and commercializing the markets to the masses only helps to further the profits of the industry.
These ads will still be able to be seen on YouTube via video commercials rather than banners. But users will have the ability to stop them from popping up in the videos they’re watching through their account settings.
One For The Ages
Legal gambling ages vary by state and country with most ranging for 18-21. This audience is the preferred audience that YouTube would like to gear these particular industries ads to; Adults who have the ability to understand fully what they’re viewing.
This is why gambling, alcohol, politics, and prescription drugs are all banned from masthead areas because they’re a more mature style of content. YouTube’s policy essentially ensures that anyone that can view these ads is of the legal age to participate in the activities they are promoting.