Why are Snapchat Ads So Annoying?

Snapchat’s unskippable video ads have been a major source of annoyance for users.

These ads, which pop up between friends’ stories, are considered invasive as they disrupt the user’s experience on the platform.

Most Snapchat video ads that appear between friends’ stories are skippable however advertisers can pay more to have an unskippable 6-second video appear in your feed.

The frustration arises when users are interested in quickly transitioning between stories and are instead faced with an unskippable ad that they are forced to watch.

How to Bypass Snapchat’s ‘Unskippable’ Ads

While these ads are meant to be unskippable some users on Reddit reported being able to get around them by using a few different methods listed below.

• Method 1: Clicking The Video & Then Tapping Back:
  1. While watching a story or video, when an ad appears, click on the video to go to the advertiser’s landing page.
  2. Then immediately tap the back button to return to your feed. This sometimes allows for ad skipping or makes the ad disappear.
• Method 2: Swiping Down:
  1. When an ad appears during a video or story, swipe down on the screen.
  2. This action might make the ad disappear, allowing you to continue with your Snapchat experience.
• Method 3: Using the Back Button:
  1. Press the back button on your device when an ad appears.
  2. This could potentially skip the ad and let you proceed with the video or story.

The success rate of these methods varies greatly from user to user depending on your device and Snapchat version.

How To Spot An Unskippable Ad

Unskippable ads are easy to spot as they display a 6-second countdown bar at the top of the screen.

In the images below you can see in the first image (on the left on desktop devices) the countdown timer bar at the top is clearly displayed.

When this is visible you will not be able to skip the ad.
In the second image this bar is not displayed meaning that the ad is skippable.

Why Snapchat Introduced This Ad Format

Snapchat introduced unskippable ads for several reasons:

1. Advertisers prefer ads that users can’t skip, ensuring their message gets seen in full. As such, these ads are more valuable to advertisers, bringing in more revenue for Snapchat.
2. Some ad formats on Snapchat, like those integrated into the Stories format or ads appearing during Discover content, are designed to blend into the user experience and may not include a skip option.
3. Snapchat uses unskippable ads to deliver targeted content based on user interests, demographics, and behavior.
4. There are indications that Snapchat also uses unskippable ads as part of its testing and experimentation process, allowing them to gather data and further optimize its ad platform.

While these ads can be bothersome, they provide a crucial revenue stream for Snapchat, allowing the platform to remain free for users.

Snapchat aims to balance user experience and ad delivery and updates its ad policies based on feedback.

If you find the frequency of unskippable ads disruptive, you can voice your concerns through Snapchat’s official channels…though we have to be honest the voice of a single disgruntled user is unlikely to change much we’re afraid!