Turns On Post-Roll Ads For All Monetized Videos

If your YouTube channel is monetized, you’ll be pleased to know that YouTube has expanded the availability of Post-Roll Ads to any video that’s 8 minutes or longer. This change presents an opportunity for content creators to increase their earnings.

For members of the YouTube Partner Program who can monetize their videos, the previous 10-minute threshold for mid-roll ad insertion has been reduced to 8 minutes. This means you can potentially publish more videos at 8 minutes in length and still earn the same mid-roll ad revenue.

This change is retroactive, which means that any videos you previously published on your channel, ranging from 8 to 10 minutes in length, are now eligible for mid-roll ads. YouTube has also automatically enabled mid-roll ads on these videos unless you opted out before the change. For further information, you can watch our video explaining this significant update ⬇️.

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YouTube Mid-Roll Ads and Their Impact on Your Audience

While this development offers benefits for content creators and advertisers, it’s essential to consider its impact on the YouTube audience.

On one side, there are creators looking to generate revenue from their content, and on the other side, there are viewers seeking valuable content. The platform connecting these two groups is YouTube.

Introducing mid-roll ads into your video can create a potential obstacle or barrier to the value viewers derive from your content. However, as a creator, you also need to earn revenue, as creating YouTube videos is not always cost-free.

Thus, there’s a delicate balance between building your community and building your YouTube business. Fortunately, there are ways to strike this balance.

We spoke with Tom Martin, a professional YouTube channel manager, about best practices for mid-roll ads, especially in light of YouTube’s recent update. Check out Tom’s Pro Channel Manager Podcast for more industry insights.

YouTube’s move to allow mid-roll ad insertion in videos of 8 minutes and over is new. What should creators know about this change?

Prior to the feature’s launch on July 27th, YouTube sent creators an email offering the option to opt out of automatic ad insertion across their channel.

Initially, I thought it would apply only to qualified videos uploaded after that date. However, it appears that it applies to all videos that can benefit from monetization. Unless creators actively chose to opt out before July 27th, mid-roll ads have automatically been inserted.

This is great news for many creators in the YouTube Partner Program as they don’t have to take any action to benefit from this change. However, some creators aren’t happy with the ad placements in their 8+ minute videos and are having to manually update each video, which can be a significant task for some with hundreds or even thousands of videos.

I believe there used to be a way to bulk edit ad placements, but I couldn’t find that option anymore.

Does the placement of mid-roll ads on a qualifying video matter?

Yes, it matters to many creators. In fact, some channels choose not to enable mid-rolls at all because they find them too disruptive to their viewers. For example, in yoga or music videos, a mid-roll ad may seem out of place.

Since it’s an automated process, YouTube may not always select the best placement for the ad, as a human would. That’s why I manually place all my mid-roll ads, as I always have.

Can you adjust the position of a mid-roll ad after YouTube has inserted it?

Yes, but it’s a manual process. However, I prefer doing it manually to provide a better experience for the audience. Otherwise, there’s a risk that the ad could interrupt the presenter mid-sentence or create a jarring experience.

I believe you can also set up your channel so that future videos don’t automatically insert mid-roll ads on qualifying uploads. The catch is that all your old videos will now have mid-rolls enabled, so you’ll need to go back and turn those off if desired.

Do you view this as a positive move by YouTube?

Overall, I think it’s excellent for creators as it prevents people from padding their videos with unnecessary content to reach the 10-minute threshold. It has likely unlocked millions of videos between 8 and 10 minutes, resulting in more revenue for creators.

YouTube often faces criticism for not effectively communicating changes, but in this case, I think they did a good job. It’s up to creators and channel management teams to read their emails from YouTube and take necessary actions, so they don’t need to go back and fix things later.

From YouTube’s perspective, this move makes perfect sense. With various events like the ‘Adpocalypse’ and the impact of COVID-19 on ad budgets, they’ve been looking to boost revenues. Automatically enabling mid-rolls will likely generate significant additional income for YouTube in the long run.

Managing YouTube Mid-Roll Ads and Placements

A key question for YouTube viewers is, how many ads are they willing to watch in an eight-minute video? Most would probably tolerate at most two ads, provided that the content offers real value.

To provide the best viewer experience, consider placing mid-roll ads strategically in your videos. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to your YouTube Studio.
2. Click on the ‘Monetization’ link in the left-hand menu.
3. Once the mid-roll checkbox is selected, click on the ‘Manage Mid-Rolls’ link.
4. A new dashboard will open, allowing you to place or move mid-roll ads in your video.

For an optimal experience, position mid-roll ads at points where you’ve built tension in the storytelling or have just revealed or are about to reveal something essential to why the viewer clicked on the video in the first place.

If you also have pre-roll ads enabled, avoid inserting a mid-roll ad shortly after the video starts. However, don’t leave the ads until the end of the video. If a significant portion of your audience abandons your video within the first few minutes, due to poor audience retention, they won’t see those mid-roll ads, and you won’t earn revenue from them. YouTube offers valuable advice about mid-roll ad placement as well:

Managing Mid-Roll Ad Breaks for Multiple Videos

If you want to enable or disable mid-roll ad breaks for multiple videos, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your YouTube Studio.
2. From the left-hand menu, select ‘Videos.’
3. Choose the videos you want to adjust.
4. Then select ‘Ad Settings’ from the ‘Edit’ menu.
5. Toggle ‘Turn on ads during video’ to enable or disable mid-roll ad breaks.
6. Select ‘Update Videos’ and follow the displayed steps to confirm this change.