YouTube now lets you skip sponsored segments — but you’ll have to pay for it

YouTube is bringing a new feature that lets you skip through the sponsored segments in the videos. But it’s only available to YouTube Premium users.

Many YouTube videos you watch are sponsored by brands. You’ll often see a creator, like Mr Beast, promoting a brand. The creator has recently been under fire for using “dishonest” tactics to get users to sit through segments.

These sponsored segments can last anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes. But now, YouTube has introduced a feature that lets you skip them, as long as you are paying for YouTube Premium. The feature was first announced in June and is now seeing a wider rollout.

It’s pretty easy to use. When you are watching a video and see the creator talking about the sponsor, double-tap on the screen. You’ll see a “Jump ahead” button that will let you skip through the ad. It doesn’t show up on every video, however.

We tried using the skip feature on sponsored segments in Linus Tech Tips‘ and Chris Stuckmann’s videos, and it worked. However, when we tried it with ads in some PewDiePie videos, the Jump Ahead button didn’t show up.

YouTube mentioned in a blog post that this feature is designed to let you watch the best parts of the video. It is powered by a combination of AI and viewership data and doesn’t just skip sponsored segments but also any parts of the video that people typically skip.

If lots of people skip a segment in a video, like in a Linus Tech Tips video, you’ll get the option to jump ahead. If people don’t skip ads, the option won’t appear.

The new feature comes shortly after the video-sharing platform introduced an AI chatbot to help creators retrieve their hacked accounts.

While the “Jump ahead” feature is great for YouTube viewers, it might not be so great for creators who rely on sponsorships. It’s too soon to tell, but letting users skip sponsored segments could lead to advertisers spending less.