Google announced today that it is now offering advertisers its TrueView in-stream video ad format for mobile devices. TrueView ads are cost-per-view. Advertisers only pay when viewers actively select their videos or choose to continue watching them, once they’re first …

Online video viewers, it’s time to smile.  The TrueView ad format has launched on YouTube, meaning users will sometimes get the opportunity to pick the least objectionable commercial or even skip all but five seconds of an ad before watching a clip.

Note the word "sometimes."  Users shouldn’t get too happy (and advertisers shouldn’t get too scared), since skipping ads won’t always be an option.  Plus, picking one of three ads to watch is nothing new.

However much marketers might like to think otherwise, trying to force a person to watch an ad online does little good.  The average person will open a different tab, run to the bathroom, or perhaps just stare at the nearest wall.  So YouTube may be onto something as it prepares to give users the option of skipping certain ads.