YouTube mid-roll ads are about to get less annoying

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YouTube is making significant changes to how mid-roll ads function on its platform, aiming to improve the viewing experience for users while also affecting content creators’ monetization strategies. 

Starting May 12, 2025, the company will start repositioning mid-roll ads that might be interruptive, ensuring they appear at more natural breakpoints rather than disrupting key moments in a video. 

For instance, ads that currently interrupt sentences, action scenes, or other critical points will move to pauses, transitions, or moments where they are less intrusive. 

While viewers will still encounter the same number of ads, these adjustments should make them feel less disruptive, improving overall engagement and watch time.

Additionally, YouTube plans to apply this new mid-roll ad logic to older videos uploaded before February 24, 2025, specifically those with manually placed ads.

If a creator has previously selected mid-roll ad positions that YouTube deems interruptive, the system will automatically add alternative, more natural ad placements. 

However, creators who prefer to maintain complete control over their ad placements can opt out of this update by navigating to the Earn tab within YouTube Studio.

How does this affect YouTube creators? 

These changes bring both opportunities and challenges for content creators.

On the positive side, YouTube’s internal testing, conducted in July 2024, revealed that channels utilizing a mix of manual and automatic mid-roll ads experienced a 5% increase in ad revenue. 

To further assist creators in optimizing their ad placements, YouTube introduces two new tools. 

The first is “Feedback in YouTube Studio,” which will provide insights into whether a manually placed ad is deemed interruptive, allowing creators to adjust their placements accordingly. 

The second is “Automatic ad-slots,” a feature that helps identify non-disruptive moments within a video where an ad could be placed. 

Creators who prefer manual control can turn off this feature if they do not wish to use automatically suggested placements.

However, there is a downside for creators who exclusively rely on manual mid-roll ads.

YouTube has explicitly stated that those who continue placing ads in interruptive spots without adjusting to the new guidelines may experience a decline in revenue after May 12, 2025. 

While manual control remains an option, creators who ignore these recommendations risk earning less.

What do you think about this change coming to YouTube? Would you like any other changes to YouTube ads? Tell us below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.