YouTube recently announced in a blog post that’s going to change the ad controls of creators. Starting in November, YouTube is removing individual ad controls for pre-roll, post-roll, skippable and non-skippable ads on new videos.
Ad control on long-form YouTube videos
Going forward, when creators turn their ads on, any of the mentioned ad formats will be displayed on the long-form videos. If you’re wondering when the viewers will see these ads in the videos they are watching, YouTube explained that they will consider how frequently the viewer encounters ads and how frequently these ads interrupt the video. This is to ensure that viewers have a positive watching experience.
Should creators worry about this new update? YouTube cited its study in the first half of 2023 that found “creators who had non-skippable ads enabled in addition to multiple combinations of all other ad formats saw an average of over 5% greater YouTube ad revenue.” Additionally, 90% of monetized long-form videos published in 2022 had pre-roll, post-roll, skippable and non-skippable ads turned on. However, if you’re a creator who wants to have control over these ads, this change might not sit well with you.
Ad control on mid-roll ads
On the other hand, creators still have full control over mid-roll ads, both for manual and automatic ad breaks. According to YouTube, it’s adding a 60-second countdown before ads appear. It’s also going to add a Skip and Delay ads button so the creators can have the option to delay the ads for 10 minutes and then manually place the skipped/delayed ads anytime.
More ways to optimize mid-roll ad breaks on long-form videos
In the coming months, YouTube will give more options for showing mid-roll ads on their long-form videos. Currently, creators can only choose from automated ad breaks set by YouTube and the manual ad breaks they can set. Soon, creators can do both.
“Our goal is to help creators earn more, while making the ad experience as simple as possible so creators can do what they do best,” YouTube says.