YouTube just introduced a new feature that lets viewers essentially earn fewer ads during livestreams, as long as they’re active enough in the chat.
In a blog post published on Monday, the video platform said its system can now detect when engagement in a livestream chat is peaking and automatically skip ads for everyone watching.
“To protect that collective vibe, our system now recognizes when Live Chat engagement is at its peak and automatically holds back ads for everyone,” wrote YouTube Product Manager for Live Barbara Macdonald.
Until now, the most straightforward way to avoid ads on the platform has been to pay for YouTube Premium, which includes perks like ad-free viewing, offline downloads, and the ability to playback videos while the screen is off on mobile devices. But that option is getting more expensive. Just last week, YouTube confirmed to Gizmodo that it was raising the price of Premium, with the individual plan increasing from $14 to $16 per month and the family plan jumping from $23 to $27.
Additionally, users can still turn to ad blockers through browser extensions or privacy-focused browsers like Brave.
The engagement-based ad-skipping feature is part of a broader push by YouTube to make livestreams more interactive and more lucrative for streamers.
The company announced in the blog post that viewers can also unlock ad-free windows by financially supporting creators through Super Chats, Super Stickers, and other digital gifts, which users can buy to highlight messages and connect more directly with streamers.
“To make sure that moment isn’t interrupted, we’ll be rolling out an update that automatically creates a personal ad-free window right after their purchase,” Macdonald wrote.
Meanwhile, YouTube is expanding those gifting tools. Viewers will now be able to send gifts to horizontal livestreams from their phones, a feature that was previously limited to vertical streams. The company is rolling out the option to more countries, including Canada, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Australia, with plans to introduce gifts tied to local holidays and events.
The platform will also allow creators to stream in both vertical and horizontal formats at the same time, all under a single shared chat.
YouTube teased that even more customization tools are on the way, such as vertical cropping layouts.
“This will give you even more creative control, with the power to send a completely separate, customized feed for both your vertical and horizontal streams,” Macdonald wrote.
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