Google tests a solution for YouTube live stream ads that could also work with regular videos
The change being tested by Google would have the ads run alongside the live stream which would be reduced to a picture-in-picture format. This way, the live stream can still be viewed even while YouTube shows an ad at the same time. YouTube content creators will be able to select this format from their monetization settings and they will be able to set this format as the default for any future live streams.
“YouTube is experimenting with Picture in Picture for live mid-rolls. Some viewers on select devices will begin to see the new ad format in the coming months, allowing creators to run ads without disrupting the live stream!”-Google
While a live stream interrupted by an ad could prevent viewers from seeing something important that can’t be replayed, on a regular video long enough to warrant a second block of ads, the viewer isn’t missing anything since the video stops and restarts after the ads play. Still, in an effort to reduce the use of ad blockers on YouTube, we could see Google offer YouTube users the option to have ads run at certain times during a video as they do now, or choose to see the video reduced to a PiP size while an ad runs alongside it at the same time.
This sounds like a great solution not only to the live stream ads problem, but to the big ad blocker issue that YouTube and its users are facing.
The live stream PiP test will be seen in the coming months by certain YouTube live stream users viewing on select devices.
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