YouTube’s rolling out a new ad option for livestreams, with side-by-side mid-roll ads, which will now be displayed on eligible CTV and web broadcasts.

YouTube’s side-by-side ads are designed to be less disruptive, by minimizing and moving the main playback window, then playing the ad in its own display. Youtube explains it as, “The ad will run alongside the livestream within the video player. The audio of the stream will be muted while the audio from the ad plays, then the video player will expand back, and the audio of the stream will be restored when the ad break has ended or the ad has been skipped.”

So it is still somewhat disruptive, in that the audio will be taken over by the ad content. But YouTube needs to make it as appealing as possible to ad partners, while this will also provide another monetization opportunity for live-stream creators in the app.

Live-streams have become a bigger focus for YouTube of late, with YouTube looking to add more features to entice popular users to connect with their audiences through live broadcasts.

The immediacy and connectivity of live broadcasts can make viewers feel closer to their favorite creators, while livestreams also provide more opportunity for social selling, tapping into immediacy and impulse behavior to drive more activity. Side-by-side ads for live are another step in this direction, adding more incentive to get creators to go live, while also enabling advertisers to tap into this growing segment.

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