- YouTube plans to use Gemini to place ads during emotionally engaging "peak moments" in videos.
- This new feature is called Peak Points and will be implemented for mid-roll advertisements.
- The platform is also working on Shoppable CTV, allowing users to buy products directly from ads.
YouTube has been tumbling down a road of filling their platform to the brim with ads. It has reached a point where you’d be spending more time watching ads on the service than the actual content you came for. If that isn’t enough already, the video streaming giant is now planning to use Gemini to deliberately show ads at peak moments of a YouTube video.
In a new blog post, YouTube’s Vice President of Ads Marketing, Anne Marie Nelson-Bogle talked about Peak Points which is, “a new product built with Gemini that identifies the most meaningful, or “peak,” moments within YouTube’s popular content to place your brand where audiences are the most engaged”.
As shown in an example, Gemini smartly recognized the peak moment of a couple’s marriage proposal and placed an ad accordingly. The idea isn’t to create suspense for the user, but to place an ad when the viewer is the most emotionally receptive.
Along with Peak Points, YouTube also announced Shoppable CTV, where users will be able to interact with the ad and buy the product directly from there as the ad is playing out. While all this might be necessary for the platform to stay profitable, there is no doubt that the free version of YouTube has become almost unbearable to use.
There’s an ad at the start of a video, there are mid-roll ads, and ads before the video ends. Ads if you pause the video, and ads when you let the video play out. Not to forget, all the banners and placements throughout the UI itself. So YouTube Premium isn’t an option at this point; it’s a must if you want to escape the ad-riddled jungle that is the YouTube free version.
