• Source:JND
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Remember those annoying popups that come just a few seconds before your video ends on YouTube? Well, it seems like the company has taken note, and now it is coming out with a new feature called the "Hide" button that will give users the option to hide those popups and overlays that come when the video is just about to end.

End screens have been a staple feature on YouTube, helping creators promote videos, playlists, and channels. But viewers often found them intrusive, breaking the flow of a natural video ending. To address this, YouTube is now letting audiences temporarily dismiss these overlays with a simple click.

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Hide option placement

A new “Hide” button will show up in the top-right corner of the video player when end screens appear. Tapping it clears every prompt—recommendations, playlist links, and subscription buttons—instantly. If viewers change their mind, they can hit “Show” to bring everything back. The setting only applies to the current video, so users will need to repeat the action each time.

“Selecting this button will only hide end screens for the current video you’re watching – not for all videos,” the company said in its official blog post.

Alongside this update, YouTube is tweaking how branded watermarks work on desktop. Hovering over them will no longer trigger an automatic subscribe button. Instead, the watermark will remain as a branding marker, while the usual subscribe button stays below the video for quick access. YouTube explains the change as an effort to “simplify and improve the viewing experience.”

According to YouTube, creators won’t see major downsides from these adjustments. Internal testing showed the “Hide” function reduced views from end screens by less than 1.5 per cent, while the watermark tweak accounted for under 0.05 per cent of subscriptions. Both numbers, YouTube says, are too small to affect overall engagement in any meaningful way.

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Creators will still be able to add up to four interactive elements to their end screens, keeping options open for audience interaction without forcing them on viewers.