In a blog post published on Monday, the video platform said its system can now detect when engagement in livestream chats peaks and automatically skip ads to everyone watching.
“To protect that collective spirit, our system now recognizes when live chat engagement is at its peak and automatically pauses ads for everyone,” wrote YouTube product manager for Live Barbara MacDonald.
Until now, the most straightforward way to avoid ads on the platform has been to pay for YouTube Premium, which includes benefits like ad-free viewing, offline downloads, and the ability to playback videos when the screen is off on mobile devices. But that option is becoming more expensive. Just last week, YouTube confirmed to Gizmodo that it was raising the price of Premium, with the individual plan increasing from $14 to $16 per month and the family plan increasing from $23 to $27.
Additionally, users can still turn to ad blockers through browser extensions or privacy-focused browsers like Brave.
The engagement-based ad-skipping feature is part of a broader effort by YouTube to make livestreams more interactive and more engaging for streamers.
The company announced in a blog post that viewers can also unlock ad-free windows by financially supporting creators through Super Chat, Super stickers and other digital gifts that users can purchase to highlight messages and engage directly with streamers.
“To ensure that moment isn’t interrupted, we’ll release an update that automatically creates a personalized ad-free window immediately after their purchase,” Macdonald wrote.
Meanwhile, YouTube is expanding those gifting tools. Viewers will now be able to send gifts from their phones to horizontal livestreams, a feature previously limited to vertical streams. The company is rolling out the option in more countries, including Canada, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Australia, with plans to introduce gifts tied to local holidays and events.
The platform will allow creators to stream in both vertical and horizontal formats at the same time under a single shared chat.
YouTube teased that even more customization tools are coming, like vertical cropping layouts.
“This will give you even more creative control, with the power to send completely separate, customized feeds to both your vertical and horizontal streams,” MacDonald wrote.
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