YouTube Updates: Voice Replies, Shorts Ads, & Mid-Roll Ad Changes

Transcript

Welcome to the latest YouTube updates! Today we’re discussing voice messages in comments, Shorts promotions (ads on Shorts), a new live feature, and major changes to mid-roll ads taking effect in May 2025.

Voice Messages in Comments: Currently, this feature is only available on iOS and exclusively in the US. Replies can be up to 30 seconds long—that’s new information. Android users are expected to get access in the first quarter of 2025 (ending March 31st). So you can do the math on what’s coming next. However, the feature will remain limited to the US for now. But you can always take a digital trip with a VPN.

Shorts Promotions: Promotions are still a type of Google Ads ad, called Google Ads Press ads. They’re relatively easy to set up but not as targeted as a professional Google Ads campaign. YouTube Shorts are now enabled for these as well. As a creator, you can select the option “Start a Shorts Promotion” in the three-dot menu on your own channel. Then you just specify how much money you want to spend and which countries the ad should run in. That’s it!

It’s much simpler than Google Ads but less effective than a professionally managed campaign. Remember: A golden pile of shit remains a golden pile of shit. If your content isn’t good, all your advertising won’t matter. It’ll be money down the drain. In my opinion, if you create decent content, you shouldn’t have to spend a single cent on ads. Please keep that in mind!

YouTube Live Topic: There’s a new feature coming: the “Take a Break” function or taking a short pause. It will be available starting March 2025, and there will be a new button in the Live Control Room (in your YouTube Studio under Live). When you start a live stream, you’ll have options for a 3- or 5-minute break. During the break, monetization will occur—normal viewers without Premium will see one or more mid-roll ads, depending on ad saturation. If someone new joins the stream and has already seen a pre-roll ad, fewer ads will play during the break. If someone has been watching for a long time and hasn’t received a mid-roll ad, several ads might play back-to-back.

This is an automated system. I actually think it’s a cool thing! Of course, if you have Premium, you won’t see any ads. But there’s something else: Similar to the live trailer that starts before the stream, there’s now an “Away” function or “Away” video that plays during your break. This can be an animation or a genuinely voiced ad break. It’s a video you upload as unlisted and link. I think it’s very cool, and it opens up new options for creators, such as brand partnerships.

Major Changes for Mid-Roll Ads: These will be introduced on May 12, 2025. The general idea is: YouTube knows that the platform currently has a bad reputation regarding ads. So they want to improve the quality of mid-roll advertising—not by making better ads but by making placements less intrusive. Mid-roll ad slots will automatically adjust to natural pauses and transitions.

Important: Older videos uploaded before February 24, 2025, with manually placed mid-roll ads will get additional automated ad placements unless you opt out. You have until May 12 to object to the automated placement. After that, it becomes the default option. Of course, you can still manually…

New Ad Features in YouTube Studio

Ad placement on YouTube is being further optimized. In YouTube Studio, you’ll now find an indicator estimating whether an ad break might be perceived as intrusive. You can, of course, keep these ads, but there’s a chance no ad will play. Additionally, YouTube is automatically adding ads at natural pauses in your videos.

The impact on creators was extrapolated from test data from July 2024: Creators who enabled automatic mid-roll ads in addition to manual mid-roll ads saw about 5% more gross revenue. Important: Manual mid-roll ads are still possible, and you can opt out of automated placement. However, manually placed ads might generate less revenue than automatically placed ones.

Some questions that came up:

Will the changes affect videos under 8 minutes? No, videos under 8 minutes will continue to be ad-free.

Will mid-roll ads be enabled for videos that previously didn’t have them? No, if you’ve opted out of mid-roll ads, that decision will remain. Automatic mid-roll ads will only be added to videos that already contain manual mid-roll ads.

Can I disable the automatic mid-roll ads? Yes, this will be possible in YouTube Studio under Monetization. However, keep in mind that poorly placed manual mid-roll ads may result in reduced revenue starting May 2025, as YouTube aims to improve ad quality.

YouTube believes that less intrusive ads will enhance viewer engagement. This is also beneficial for you as longer watch time on your videos translates to better metrics and, consequently, more recommendations.

Can mid-roll ads still be placed manually? Yes, but YouTube recommends using the feedback tool. It indicates whether a mid-roll ad is considered intrusive, helping you find more suitable placement spots.

Will the overall number of ads displayed change? No, there won’t be an increase in the number of ads shown; they will simply be placed at more appropriate times.

I think this is a positive development and a good opportunity to reevaluate your ad strategies. Why not test out the automatic placement? The test begins next week and will be finalized by May.

What do you think about these changes? Have you already tried promoting Shorts? I’m looking forward to your comments!

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