• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

YouTube is making changes to the way it delivers ads during popular livestream sessions, deciding to rely on artificial intelligence to pause ads entirely when a creators’ viewers are engaging with the video most.

According to a recent announcement, the social video platform’s update aims to “protect that collective vibe” of when “the entire chat explodes with energy.”

“Our system now recognizes when Live Chat engagement is at its peak and automatically holds back ads for everyone,” the announcement reads, adding that pausing ad delivery during these moments is designed to “keep the momentum going for the whole community.”

The Google-owned platforms’ AI-powered system will judge a livestream’s engagement peak based on fans showing support via a Super Chat, Super Stickers, or gifts.

To utilize Super Chat, livestream viewers must pay to highlight their message to the video host. Whereas Super Stickers can be purchased by viewers who want another way for their message to stand out.

Notably, allowing YouTube's system to suspend ads during peak engagement moments only works when creators have automatic ads turned on. Prior to this personal ad-free update, the only way for users to avoid seeing ads was by paying at least $15.99 for YouTube Premium.

In addition to these ad-free windows, creators are now allowed to run livestreams in both vertical and horizontal formats simultaneously in order to capture a wider reach across various devices.