In a blog post on Wednesday, YouTube announced plans to introduce new advertising-related tools for creators. Most crucially, YouTubers will now have the ability to link ads to specific moments in their videos via timestamp. (So, for example, causing an ad to pop up for a specific product during a moment in the video when that product is mentioned or featured on-screen.) Other soon-to-come bells and whistles include the ability to bulk tag affiliate products throughout their video libraries, providing a revenue sharing boost even on archived content, and a new analytics tool that shows video makers which affiliate products are generating the most revenue.
There have been recent upgrades for live streamers, as well, on the ad front. YouTube recently introduced a 60-second countdown ahead of midstream ads, giving creators the option to skip them entirely if they’d prefer not to interrupt their stream. Creators also now have the option to delay mid-roll ads for up to 10 minutes while broadcasting. And “in the coming months,” YouTube said it will add the ability to include both automated and manual mid-stream ad breaks, rather than just picking one or the other.
All of these constantly changing rules and fine-tuning options can be a little confusing, even chaotic, for YouTubers who rely on their channels to earn a living. But the platform’s relentless efforts at empowering users to squeeze the most revenue possible from their videos without entirely sacrificing their own voice, speaks to the growing competitiveness in the new media space. While revenue sharing was once seen as a nice bonus and a way to keep a platform’s most frequent users hooked, it’s now a central feature of every user-generated content platform. …
