switch off youtube ads

How to switch off YouTube ads on your medical videos?

Say you want to jump into the most effective medical marketing tool, video. You get videos made, or you capture them on your smartphone. How can you get rid of those annoying YouTube ads at the start? And the suggestions to watch a competitor’s video at the end? Let’s explore the solutions.

How to switch off YouTube ads on your medical videos?

The pros and cons of YouTube for medical videos

ads on youtube

As a doctor, you have much to gain from using video SEO and video marketing and we have covered those benefits in one of our previous articles about video marketing for doctors.
YouTube is easy to implement because it’s free.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. That’s why YouTube sells ads to pay for the service.

You can have your videos hosted for free on YouTube and the price you pay is a situation where they make it rather cumbersome to avoid ads that come with your content.

There was a way to just switch it off

switch off video ads on YouTube

The traditional way to get rid of ads on your own videos, that you embed as a doctor on your website, was to simply leave the ‘monetisation’ option switched off. In your YouTube account, you can find a function called ‘monetisation’ and it allows you to switch pre-roll ads and any other type of ads on or off.

For many doctors, this created the simple solution to a sometimes annoying situation where the patient would have to sit through a 30-second pizza commercial before learning about weight loss surgery.

In your account, and assuming you have been found eligible, you would have the option to switch your monetisation on or off.

Then YouTube changed the rules. Back to square one.

In May 2021, YouTube said it would start showing ads on certain accounts no matter what. Yes, you can still choose to switch off monetisation and yes, YouTube has now simply updated its terms so it can ignore the word ‘off’.

Switching off related videos on YouTube

wistia for medical videos

Another common frustration that doctors have once they start implementing video marketing, is the concept of ‘related videos’. You have published a 90-second piece on your page about ACL reconstruction, explaining recovery and rehabilitation. As the patient finishes watching the video on your ACL page, they get suggestions for ‘related videos’. All good and well, but what if that takes the patient to a competitor’s video about ACL reconstruction?

We can all see how switching off related videos on YouTube is one of our customers’ common questions.

There is no happy end to this story. YouTube geeks managed to add snippets of code to embed codes, making other YouTube users happy, only to be surpassed again by YouTube engineers who subsequently shut down the option.

There is no failproof, long-term way to really get rid of the ‘related videos’ you get at the end of a YouTube video.

Adding 30 seconds of static content at the end with your logo is a plumber’s solution that will only discourage viewers who are seeing the length displayed even before they click play …

Exit YouTube. Enter Wistia.

wistia for doctors

Having a past in broadcast and television, I love Wistia. It’s crisp, clean, reliable and powerful.
I don’t have shares in it nor do we get a commission and when we recommend it, we only do so because it helps you implement the full power of video marketing for your medical practice.

Here’s why I would recommend Wistia over YouTube if you believe your video marketing deserves the best:

There are no ads whatsoever. Never. You control what your patient sees.
There are no suggested videos at the end. Unless you want to configure them and guide the patient to watch more of your own content.
You can ramp up your video marketing with lots of additional features such as email collection, call-to-action links.
You get detailed metrics about what patients are doing. How long do they watch, which content is really popular, where do they tune out? That is gold if you want to improve your video strategy over time.
You can start a hybrid channel with videos and audio podcasts, all from the same account.

You can take a look on the Wistia website for yourself, or we can help you set up your strategy.

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