YouTube has announced significant changes to its mid-roll ad policy, aiming to improve the viewing experience for users while providing creators with potential revenue boosts. Starting May 12, the Google-owned platform will display fewer ads during moments that feel interruptive or may cause viewers to abandon the video, instead opting for more natural break points in videos.

The update is designed to reduce the number of ads that appear in the middle of a sentence or action sequence, which can be frustrating for viewers and lead to a decrease in engagement. By displaying ads at natural break points, such as pauses and transitions, YouTube hopes to create a more seamless and enjoyable experience for its users.

To facilitate this change, YouTube will be updating older videos uploaded before February 24 to automatically include ad slots at natural break points. Creators who prefer to manage their ads manually can opt out of this feature in YouTube Studio. However, it's worth noting that videos with interruptive ad slots may earn less revenue after May 12, according to YouTube.

In addition to the update, YouTube is introducing a new feature that will show creators if their mid-roll ads would be better placed at a moment with a natural break instead of at a disruptive time. This feature is designed to help creators optimize their ad placement and increase revenue. Furthermore, YouTube is encouraging creators who have manual mid-roll ads to consider letting its systems automatically identify other places to show ads, allowing for a more balanced ad experience.

According to YouTube, creators who have a mix of both auto mid-roll ads and manual mid-rolls have seen an average increase of over 5% in YouTube ad revenue compared to those with only manually placed slots. This suggests that the new feature could have a significant impact on creator revenue.

YouTube's goal with these features is to provide creators with more information and new options, while still maintaining control over whether to show mid-roll ads in their videos and where they would like those ads to be shown. By reducing interruptive ads, YouTube hopes to help creators keep more viewers on their videos, ultimately leading to increased engagement and revenue.

The update is a significant step towards improving the overall user experience on YouTube, and could have a positive impact on creator revenue. As the platform continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how these changes affect the creator community and the overall video streaming landscape.