YouTube kills annotations to improve the overall video watching experience. The new change will significantly help to improve YouTube’s users’ journey.
Why YouTube Kills Annotations?
YouTube kills annotations because they are downright irritating. They keep coming onto your videos, making it tough to view what’s happening apparently. Sometimes, advertisements bury YouTube annotations under ads, and it is virtually impossible to close them down.
The mobile user experience has taken over the world by storm. Unfortunately, the YouTube annotations are not dynamic, and they fail to provide the same kind of user experience on mobile screens. Instead of shrinking, the YouTube annotations remain of the same size. The annotations clutter the entire video watching experience on smaller screens.
YouTube has tried to find a turn around this problem by introducing End Screens and Cards. Cards only get displayed on right side of the video once a user expands it. End cards allow users to add links at the end of the videos, subscription buttons, and playlists. These YouTube features are apparently missing for users who watch videos on Google TV, Chromecast and set-top boxes.
Will This Change Impact Creators?
For sure, video creators will get impacted by this massive change. YouTube kills annotations to protect user experience, but it closes the door on the video creators who want to share their other content in the video.
Search engine optimizers do not seem happy about this change as they are not able to utilize the link building opportunity within YouTube.
Here is a look at the advantages and disadvantages Cards and YouTube Annotations.
Cards Pros:
- Cards have a more professional appearance on the videos.
- Cards are more friendly regarding user experience and viewing on the small experience.
- Users can easily upload an image.
Cards Cons:
- Cards cannot move from the top right location.
- Users cannot change the card size.
- There are no color choices available for cards.
- A user can only add five cards per video.
Annotations Pros:
- The annotations are flexible regarding the size.
- Users can select the size of the YouTube annotations they like.
- Several color schemes are available to make the annotations abode well with the colors used in the video. The option of using different colors makes the entire user experience a lot more enjoyable.
- You can add as many YouTube annotations in a video as you like.
Annotations Cons:
- YouTube annotations’ biggest problem is that they are not mobile friendly.
Even if you build annotations on your YouTube videos, they will fade out in a few months’ time.
