YouTube users will soon no longer have to deal with the most annoying ad type on the video platform.
Ads on YouTube have grown increasingly overwhelming over the years, with Google adding pause-screen ads and unskippable advertisements that sometimes last for 60 minutes.
Mid-roll ads are also a point of contention with users, often interrupting videos at the worst possible time, such as in the middle of dialogue, which can ultimately prompt viewers to straight-up abandon a video.
However, YouTube is now changing things with a series of updates to greatly improve the user experience.
YouTube axes annoying mid-roll ads in new change
According to YouTube, starting on May 12, the quality of mid-roll ads will be enhanced by showing them at “natural break points,” which it describes as pauses or transitions.
This means there will be far fewer intrusive advertisements that “feel interruptive or cause viewers to abandon the video, like in the middle of a sentence or action sequence.”
This is a welcome change for viewers who are tired of getting a series of ads right in the middle of an important part of a video, completely disrupting the flow.
YouTube made bank in 2024, reportedly raking in over $36 billion in advertisements, alone.
Furthermore, YouTube announced that videos uploaded before February 24, 2025 will be updated with manual mid-rolls at more natural points.
Interestingly, the platform believes this change will result in an increase in mid-roll ad revenue after a test conducted in the summer of 2024.
“If you are only using manual mid-rolls and they are placed in interruptive parts of your videos, you may see a decrease in revenue as we improve mid-roll quality after May 12, 2025,” they warned content creators.
This update also comes as YouTube reportedly plans to launch a cheaper, “Lite” version of Premium in the US without some of the bells and whistles of the standard option, but ideal for those tired of ads.