YouTube Unveils AI-Powered 'Peak Points' Ad Format, Sparking Controversy

YouTube viewers will start seeing ads after 'peak' moments in videos | TechCrunch

Imagine you're watching a highly anticipated video from your favorite YouTube creator -- perhaps the moment a famous couple finally gets engaged -- when an ad pops up immediately after the clip. This is part of YouTube's new ad format called "Peak Points." The company revealed the new ad format during its upfront presentation on Wednesday in New York. Peak Points leverages Google's Gemini AI to analyze YouTube videos and identify moments it believes have the highest viewer engagement or are most emotionally impactful, and then suggests placing the ad right after it. Point Peaks aims to benefit advertisers by using a tactic that aims to grab users' attention right when they're most invested in the content. This approach appears to be similar to a strategy called emotion-based targeting, where advertisers place ads that align with the emotions evoked by the video. It's believed that when viewers experience heightened emotional states, it leads to better recall of the ads. However, viewers may find these interruptions frustrating, especially when they're deeply engaged in the emotional arc of a video and want the ad to be over quickly to resume watching. In related news, YouTube announced another ad format that may be more appealing to users. The platform debuted a shoppable product feed where users can browse and purchase items during an ad.

YouTube announces Gemini AI feature to target ads when viewers are most engaged

Peak Points uses Google's Gemini AI to find the most engaged moment to place an ad. YouTube said the AI model is trained by analyzing video elements such as frames and transcripts. Peak Points is currently in a pilot program and will be rolling out over the rest of the year. The video service announced Peak Points at its YouTube Brandcast event in New York. Besides Peak Points, YouTube made other announcements geared toward advertisers. With Peak Points, Google is taking another step in monetizing AI at a time when many in Silicon Valley are prioritizing products over safety.

YouTube's newest ad strategy is to ruin the best part of a video on purpose

These new types of ads are called "Peak Points" and use AI to identify the "peak" moments in a video. YouTube is always cooking up new ways to show you ads. Be it skippable ads, non-skippable ads, mid-rolls, or bumpers, the goal, as always, is to find more places to make more money. And now, thanks to AI, YouTube has found a brand-new spot to squeeze in ads -- right when something exciting happens in a video. That's the big idea behind "Peak Points," a new ad product powered by Google Gemini. It uses AI to identify the most engaging or emotionally charged moments in popular YouTube videos and then serves ads right there. Yes, right when you get to that good part, an ad will be waiting to disrupt your experience. If you're an advertiser, this might sound like a brilliant move. For viewers, it's pretty much the worst possible timing. YouTube even shows off an example where an ad rolls in just after someone proposes in a video. Because apparently, what we really needed were more ads in our videos, especially ones specifically designed to ruin the best parts. It's still unclear whether these "Peak Point" ads will be skippable or not. Guess we'll have to wait and find out the hard way. Of course, if you'd rather not deal with any of this, there's always YouTube Premium, the ultimate "solution" to the ads problem YouTube created in the first place. So in the end, it's a win-win for YouTube.

YouTube excitedly shares plan for dystopian, Black Mirror-esque AI ad placement

This simple Philips Hue app update prevents an annoyingly common miscue Summary YouTube just showcased a new, AI-based ad placement system called Peak Points, designed to take advantage of a video's most emotionally impactful moments. The tool determines the perfect time window for inserting ads for maximum psychological effectiveness. While YouTube does work to reduce mid-roll ad disruptions, only time will tell how aggressive this ominous, borderline dystopian ad injection method ends up. Eons ago, before on-demand streaming, viral videos, and digital key opinion leaders, there were TV commercials. Commercials aired in two- to three-minute blocks at predetermined points throughout a show. You knew when they were coming, about how long they would be, and that you couldn't stop them. Things are a little different now. For example, the pause and seek functions mean you won't have to sprint to the bathroom, and then to get the fresh popcorn from the kitchen, like millennials did last century. But some timed placements derail a thought-provoking sentence or interrupt a panning, artistic landscape shot. Even more horrifically, when a poorly timed ad placement strikes at the wrong moment, it might not be very effective at selling you stuff, which would really be a shame. Related 8 YouTube ad-skipping hacks I wish I knew before paying for Premium Skip ads without paying for Premium on YouTube Posts 43 YouTube wants to change that unpredictable timing and make sure everybody gets the most from ad spots. Everybody in the various partners' advertising departments, that is, who greatly prefer you to watch their commercial whenever you're most emotionally vulnerable. So the world's biggest free streaming service is introducing Peak Points, an AI-powered service to inject ads immediately following a video's most impactful moments, thereby giving marketers the best shot at convincing you their product is worth it (Source: TechCrunch). Manipulative advertising, now featuring AI Please drink verification can to continue Source: Lucas Gouveia/Android Police | MIA Studio/Shutterstock Back in the olden days, shows always started at scheduled times, which were outlined in an ancient ledger called the TV Guide. That meant commercials also had their predetermined placements. Show directors explicitly planned meaningful story beats and important transitions around these commercial breaks. You would certainly never see an in-progress story suddenly give way, mid-dialogue, to a loud, flashy advertisement. A commercial break could even give viewers a helpful moment to process the dramatic turn they may have just witnessed. The advent of gapless streaming media erased that dynamic. In that light, using AI to properly place ads in moments where they won't disrupt a video sounds like a wonderful idea. And YouTube is supposedly doing just that. As TechCrunch's Lauren Forristal reported from YouTube's exclusive Upfront presentation on Wednesday, though, that isn't what the new Peak Points format is for. Source: YouTube via TechCrunch Forget the viewer's experience for a minute. The Gemini AI-based Peak Points implementation seeks out the most emotional moments of a given video for another reason. YouTube wants to offer advertisers the most psychologically impactful moment for sharing their multimedia marketing materials. As Forristal points out, the tactic is essentially an evolution of emotion-based targeting, where ad content is delivered based on your emotions in the moment, rather than your real-world needs or demographic purchasing habits. In fairness to YouTube, we haven't seen the new format's in-depth operation yet. The animation it presented, which showed a couple's ski-slope marriage proposal followed immediately by a recommended ad placement window, doesn't exactly inspire the warm and fuzzies. It is possible the streaming giant takes a somewhat conservative approach to avoid disjointed playback, as well as frustrated readers and creators. It is also possible this feature plays out like a real-life Black Mirror episode. Source: YouTube via TechCrunch During the same presentation, YouTube also revealed another, more interactive new ad format. This one gives viewers a product feed they can browse and purchase directly from, while the related ad is still in progress. And should these two ad formats ever converge, may Carl Sagan have mercy on our souls.

YouTube will use Gemini to insert ads around the parts of a video you care about most [Video]

During its "Brandcast" this week, YouTube revealed a new strategy to insert ads into videos which will leverage AI to put those ads into the most important parts of a video. Every video has points that demand the most attention, with viewers often skipping straight to that section or leaving shortly after. Those points would also be the most ideal place to show an ad and get the most reach, which is why YouTube is introducing "Peak Points." In a post, YouTube explains that this new ad product will insert ads in a video at the point just after where the audience is "most engaged." In a demo, below, YouTube shows this as the moments directly after a proposal. Gemini is used to determine "peak" portions of the video and inserts the ad directly after that. We also announced Peak Points, 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. From the looks of it, these ads won't be appearing during these crucial parts of the video, but rather just after them. If anything, that might be a good thing as it lessens the possibility of an ad cutting into an important part of the video, as is very possible today. There's no word yet on when this new ad product will be rolling out to users, but it seems likely enough that it'll arrive sooner than later.

YouTube wants to place ads at the 'most exciting' moments of its videos

A new feature will allow content creators to target ads for the segments that viewers are actually watching. At its own Brandcast 2025 event, YouTube presented a new way of inserting advertisements in particularly exciting places, which was recapped in this official YouTube blog post. The new feature, called "Peak Points," uses Gemini AI to analyze videos to find the most important, meaningful, and engaging moments that viewers are watching. Content creators are then able to place their ads at these exact moments to maximize viewership and engagement. In one example, YouTube shows a marriage proposal, which it considered to be a "peak" moment in the video. The advertisement would play directly after that moment. The concept is clear: ads should play at high-viewership and high-engagement moments to maximize impact. This new way to wring every last dollar out of monetized videos is, of course, great news for content creators who want more cash in their pockets. But it's less exciting for viewers. One point of contention is that an ad break directly after an exciting or engaging moment diminishes the experience of that moment. An alternative to that could be for creators to place ads directly before these peak moments, perhaps as a way to spark curiosity and anticipation in the viewer, amping up interest in what's about to happen. Then again, that could also backfire by increasing viewer frustration. YouTube hasn't yet announced an official date when Peak Points will be made available to content creators. Alongside Peak Points, YouTube also wants to bring so-called "edge-to-edge" ads on connected TVs (when watching YouTube on your large-screen living room TV, for example) as well as shopping ads where viewers can browse and engage with products on TVs.

YouTube will show ads at 'peak points' of videos

YouTube will now show ads at the "peak" moment of videos, in a move right out of cliffhanger TV territory. Announced Wednesday during the company's Upfront presentation, Peak Points is a new feature that uses Google's Gemini AI to identify "the most meaningful, or 'peak,' moments" to drop ads into YouTube videos. The idea behind the feature is YouTube connecting brands with the spot in videos "where audiences are the most engaged" and in doing so, allow creators to make more money from ads. These will likely be the most emotional, dramatic, and interesting parts of videos, identified by Gemini by crunching user viewing data. Hilariously, YouTube's blog post uses the example of a marriage proposal video, highlighting a "targeted moment" right before a suggested ad window. Can't wait for an ad right after that teary "yes." It's not a surprising move, by any means, considering YouTube's dominance in the streaming market and its reliance on advertising as company and creator revenue. The platform has consistently bested industry leaders like Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+ as the top-watched streaming service on TVs globally. YouTube also takes the crown for livestreaming, with YouTube Live dominating competitors TikTok and Twitch.

YouTube starts using AI to make ads annoyingly difficult to avoid

YouTube is relying on AI in its latest crusade against seekers of an ad-free video-watching experience. The company recently announced plans to use AI models to make ads more persuasive by strategically placing them within the video. At its Brandcast 2025 event in New York, YouTube revealed it will deploy Google's Gemini AI to analyze videos to optimize placement of ads. The AI will be used to identify key moments or "Peak Points" in the video where viewers are most likely to be engaged and too invested to stop watching it in order to avoid the ad. Recommended Videos The AI supposedly goes a step beyond the existing histogram on the YouTube scrub bar that shows "Most replayed" moments in a video. But the parameters that YouTube will use to detect these peaks are not immediately evident. YouTube doesn't specify other aspects of the ads, such as their duration or whether they will be skippable. However, it can be easily assumed that YouTube is unlikely to place smaller ads or ones you can easily skip, since any of those traits will refute the purpose of placing ads precisely at the most intense moments in the video. While unpleasant for viewers, this is probably good news for content creators who could see their revenue from ads spike up. Whether it will also result in better click-through rates (CTR) for advertisers will likely depend on the relevance of ads for viewers. All of these tactics are ultimately designed to make viewers switch to YouTube Premium, and the company has been testing various means to convince you to switch, from offering limited ad-free previews to bringing plans with fewer ads. Of course, YouTube is still fighting to make ad blockers less serviceable, especially if you use Chrome as the default browser. In addition to these strategic ads, YouTube said it would broadcast the NFL game from Brazil later this week live on the platform for everyone. Viewers would not need a subscription to watch the game.

YouTube launches new AI-powered feature to place ads at 'peak' moments

The initiative is YouTube's latest foray into using AI to maximise advertising potential. YouTube will start playing advertisements directly after the "peak" moments of its videos, the latest in a string of new tools from its parent company that are backed by artificial intelligence (AI). The platform will use Google's AI model Gemini to identify the point in videos "where audiences are the most engaged" - and allow brands to place ads there, the company said in a blog post Wednesday. YouTube gave an example: A video of a marriage proposal atop a snowy mountain could be strategically interrupted with an ad immediately after the groom pops the question. The new tool is called "Peak Points," YouTube said when it announced the feature at an event celebrating its 20th anniversary on Wednesday. The company's ad revenue reached nearly €8 billion in the first quarter of 2025, a 10 per cent increase compared to last year. That does not include the additional revenues YouTube generates through subscriptions. Alphabet, which is the parent company of both Google and YouTube, has been leaning heavily on AI as it plots its growth. Last month, the company announced a $75 billion (€65.9 billion) investment aimed primarily at bolstering its AI infrastructure in 2025. The tech giant is also pushing its Gemini model into Android devices and increasing its capabilities for cars, watches, and TV. "Peak Points" is Google's latest foray into using AI to maximise advertising potential.

YouTube's top brains crack making its ads even worse: Using AI to insert commercials at moments you're 'most engaged' with its videos

At the start of this year, after YouTube inexplicably decided that I was not, in fact, a proud resident of Argentina, it shunted me off my alarmingly cheap YouTube Premium package back into its regular, un-premium offering. It's terribly disruptive, which I imagine is the point: ads before I start a video, during a video, next to video previews, as far as the eye can see. No, I don't want to use Grammarly, thank you. So imagine my delight on learning, via The Verge, that YouTube's top brains have cracked how to make the whole experience even worse for the end user, thanks to the infinite power of Google's Gemini AI. At this week's Brandcast event (a big networking and presentation carnival for the platform's advertisers), YouTube gleefully announced "Peak Points." That's its name for a new system that lets Gemini identify the "most meaningful, or 'peak,' moments within YouTube's popular content." So far, so acceptable (though I don't know how that's markedly different from YouTube's already-existing "most replayed" feature), but then comes the sucker punch -- advertisers can take advantage of Gemini's Peak Points feature to "place your brand where audiences are the most engaged". In other words, YouTube is turning AI to the task of identifying "contextually relevant" parts of videos on its platform to cram ads into, ensuring that they're carefully placed to hit viewers when they're "most engaged" with the content on their screen. I don't know about you, but an ad suddenly Kool-Aid Manning through the wall when I'm most engaged with the thing I'm watching feels like a recipe to reach new peaks of frustration. I dunno if that's really the reaction advertisers want. But, frankly, I wonder if it's even about any of that, so much as it's about giving Google an opportunity to say 'AI' on a stage and trigger the Pavlovian response that has the world's executive class handing over wads and wads of cash. Call me a terribly cynical Luddite (and, hey, the Luddites had a point, thank you), but this feels like another mark in the ledger for AI being a technology that has investors and capitalists incredibly excited, but that offers very little to humble proles like you and me except a worse, more frustrating world.

YouTube Ads Are About to Get Even More Annoying

Has this ever happened to you? You're totally invested in a video -- maybe the punchline to a great joke is about to hit, or you're finally about to learn the answer to some big mystery -- and right as it's getting good, bam: an annoying ad grinds everything to a disappointing halt. Ads are a necessary element of the free internet, but that doesn't excuse how irritating they can be. Nobody wants an ad to cut them off from a video right as the interest levels are peaking -- though that's exactly what's going to happen on all of your YouTube videos. As reported by Mashable, it's all part of a new feature called Peak Points, which YouTube announced during its Upfront presentation on Wednesday. Peak Points employs Google's AI model Gemini to find "the most meaningful, or 'peak,' moments" to interrupt a video with ads. It's not clear what data Gemini will use to make its determinations, but assume your behaviors are being watched by Google's AI whenever you tune into a YouTube video. YouTube knows that viewers are going to be most invested in the video during these points, and by strategically placing ads there, the chances are higher that a viewer will engage with that ad -- making more money for both YouTube and the creator. And there's some logic there. But it also means that ad placement on YouTube videos is about to get really annoying. Every interesting, funny, frustrating, or otherwise emotional video on the site is going to have ads placed at their "peak." I wouldn't be surprised if, after a while, you could simply sense these ad breaks coming. There are a couple of workarounds to this. YouTube's solution, of course, is to subscribe to YouTube Premium. For $13.99 per month, you can watch videos largely ad-free, among other subscriber-only perks. On the other hand, you could use an ad blocker to, well, block these ads. YouTube can employ any AI model it wants to place ads in the most strategic moments possible, but it'll be in vain if you simply block those ads from appearing. The situation, however, is not quite as simple as it once was. YouTube and Google have gone to war against ad blockers, neutering popular options like uBlock Origin on Chrome, and finding new ways to stop users who are using ad blockers from watching YouTube. Even still, there are always ways around YouTube's tactics.

YouTube's AI now knows when you're about to buy

YouTube unveiled new ad formats on Wednesday during its Upfront presentation in New York, featuring a performance by Lady Gaga and appearances by popular YouTubers like Brittany Broski and MrBeast. The new formats include an enhanced shoppable connected TV (CTV) offering and a new ad format called "Peak Points." The shoppable CTV ad format allows advertisers to display products on the right side of the TV screen during ads, accompanied by an interactive product feed that acts as a storefront for brands. Viewers can browse multiple products using their remotes, select an item to scan a QR code with their smartphone for a direct purchase link, or press and hold a button to send the link to their phones to shop for all products at once. This move is strategic for YouTube, as it recognizes that viewers often watch videos on the big screen while using their phones to scroll through social media or shop online. YouTube has become a dominant force in TV viewing, with Nielsen reporting it as the top platform for streaming watch time in the U.S. for over two years, surpassing Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video. Video: Google In the first quarter of 2025, TVs were the primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S., according to internal data. A Kantar survey also ranked YouTube as the No. 1 platform for seeking out information about brands among U.S. participants. YouTube campaigns on CTV generated over 50 million monthly average conversions in the fourth quarter. The new "Peak Points" ad format leverages Google's Gemini AI to analyze YouTube videos and identify moments with the highest viewer engagement or emotional impact, suggesting ad placement immediately after these moments. This approach is similar to emotion-based targeting, where advertisers place ads that align with the emotions evoked by the video, potentially leading to better ad recall. YouTube also debuted a shoppable product feed where users can browse and purchase items during an ad, a format that has gained traction among streaming services and advertisers. Amazon recently announced a similar interactive shoppable ad format on Prime Video, highlighting Amazon deals, user reviews, and Prime shipping details.

YouTube Unveils New AI Feature to Find the Best Moments for Ads in Videos

YouTube recently began testing AI Overviews in its search results YouTube unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for its advertisers on Wednesday. The new feature, dubbed Peak Points, was showcased at the company's Brandcast event held in New York. The Google-owned video streaming giant said that the feature will use Gemini to determine the moment in a video where viewers are most engaged. This moment will then be picked as an ad slot to maximise the reach of the advertisement. Notably, the feature is currently said to be available as a pilot programme. In a blog post, YouTube detailed the new advertiser-focused feature. Ads are one of the most important revenue streams for the video streaming company. Not only does it bring revenue to the company, but it also helps monetise videos, and a percentage of total ad revenue from the video is shared with the creators. In the past, the company has placed ads at the beginning of the videos, added unskippable ads, and even gone after those who use ad-blockers to avoid seeing ads. According to a report, YouTube is also working on showing ads that appear when a video is paused. All of these measures are likely to ensure that more people watch ads. The fundamentals behind the newly unveiled Peak Points feature are also along the same vein. YouTube said that it will leverage Gemini to analyse videos and find out the moments when viewers are most engaged. These could be a climactic moment in the video, or a moment right before something special occurs. In a demo video showcasing the feature, Gemini was able to pinpoint an ad window right before a person proposes to his girlfriend. According to a CNBC report, Gemini finds out these moments by analysing the video frame-by-frame and going through the transcript of the video. The company did not specify if user behaviour (pausing a video at a specific spot, or rewinding the video multiple times) was also collected and analysed for this feature. While the feature is likely to improve the reach of advertisements, it can also lead to frustration among viewers as ads will be played right before a key moment in a video, breaking the immersion. The feature is reportedly in its pilot phase and will be rolled out in different regions throughout the year.