YouTube‘s in-app close button is now an elusive target. YouTube quietly removed the close button from its mobile side panel ads, making what used to be a dismissible overlay threaten to become screen-hogging while some horizontally cut ads play.
The change, noticed and flagged by the advertising professional Anthony Higman on X, means that viewers can no longer tap an “X” icon to clear off the shoppable panel that sometimes fills about half of the display when in landscape mode.
YouTube is always iterating, but few tweaks are likely to influence user control as much as taking away a close option. The result is a more interruptive ad experience for phones — the most important device category for the platform — at a point when audience patience with intrusive ad formats has already worn dangerously thin.
What Changed on Mobile With YouTube’s Side Ad Panels
That side panel comes up next to horizontal video ads on smartphones and features product tiles, prices, or a link as YouTube continues to make a push into shopping and affiliate promotion in general. Previously, viewers could close the panel with a small “X” icon and return to seeing full ads or at least fewer ads. That’s gone now and the panel just remains until the ad completes or a viewer clicks on it.
Practically speaking, that means a landscape ad might be cut in two: the ad video on one side, a commerce module on another, without an option for users to override. The change could benefit creators and advertisers by increasing clicks; for viewers, it’s a clear loss of agency.
Impact on Visuals and Usability for Mobile Ads
Persistent overlays raise several concerns. One is simple watchability: Shrinking the video window can obscure text, logos, or product shots, particularly on smaller devices. Second is mis-taps. By adding tappable tiles right where a user might want to tap in order to pause or play the video, the panel runs the risk of causing accidental clicks and making users mad while inflating low-quality traffic for advertisers.
There’s also an accessibility angle. Best practice based on the WCAG is providing a clear way to close overlays that are not essential. Though not quite as layman, the point of this is the removal of visible close controls, and that goes against the spirit of those guidelines and lessens user control for people who use simplified interfaces, even though YouTube ads are far from pop-ups in typical web usage.
Mobile matters here. YouTube has long said that phones are responsible for the lion’s share of its viewership. Any friction in that environment is not only a tax on edge cases, it’s also a disproportionate tax on the overall audience.
Why YouTube Would Remove the Close Button on Mobile
Commerce-based ad units are a strategic gamble. YouTube has been baking shopping into the product — from taggable products in videos to storefronts and affiliate integrations — reflecting the broader ascendance of retail media. A persistent panel can boost attention and click-through rates, two metrics brands and agencies monitor closely. Research from the Interactive Advertising Bureau emphasizes that the industry is increasingly banking on outcome-based models — in other words, conversions, not views.
Strong financial incentives are also built into the platform. YouTube’s advertising business has rebounded in recent quarters, and the company has stepped up its efforts against ad blockers as it tests longer non-skippable formats on connected TVs. To make high-intent shopping placements more difficult to ignore is perfectly in line with this arc of maximized monetizable engagement.
Standards and Scrutiny Around Ad Overlays on YouTube
Whether that’s okay with consumers is another story. It has been demonstrated by The Coalition for Better Ads that a variety of ad units that are annoying or difficult to close can harm satisfaction and encourage abandonment. Although the new side panel is an ad overlay and not one overlaid on organic content, the feeling for end users — that it’s an overlay you can’t close — could be similar to formats people don’t like.
And regulators and consumer groups have become increasingly vocal about “dark patterns,” or interface decisions that subtly push users toward actions they might not otherwise perform. A shopping panel that refuses to be dismissed until the advertisement completes might raise questions if it induces accidental taps or renders controls harder to reach.
What Viewers Can Do to Manage YouTube’s Mobile Side Ads
For now, options are limited. Viewers can submit in-app feedback on the issue, and YouTube does monitor that, as well as adjust their ad personalization settings to mitigate some targeting signals. The official route to no ads is still through premium membership, but it doesn’t solve the underlying issue of the design philosophy.
Advertisers and creators may also have voices in the debate. If engagement is low quality — and driven by annoyance rather than intent — brands might push for more clearly delineated controls, while creators who depend on viewer goodwill could argue for formats that balance revenue with respect for user time.
YouTube has not provided a public reason for why it took the close button out. But the implications are plain: a greater loss of control for viewers, more exposure for shoppable placements, and another fresh test on just how far the platform can take mobile ad UX before turning its users off.