Manage mid-roll ad breaks in long videos

Using mid-roll ads on YouTube

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On monetised videos that are eight minutes or longer, you can turn on ads during the middle of the video (known as 'mid-rolls').

You can manage mid-rolls on any video, regardless of your channel-level upload default. If eligible, you can also enable mid-roll ads for your live streams.

Note: You can currently only turn on or turn off mid-rolls on mobile. To manage and edit mid-roll ad slots, log in to YouTube Studio on your desktop.

Types of ad slots in YouTube Studio

There are three ways to place mid-roll ads:

• Manual ad slots: If you choose to manually place ad slots, you tell our systems specific places in your video where you would allow an ad to be served. Our ad systems then decide which ad slots may get an ad based on a number of factors to best balance viewer experience, creator earnings and advertiser value. Ad slots placed at natural breakpoints, such as a pause in audio or transition in visual, are more likely to serve ads as our systems generally find higher viewer retention at these breakpoints. Mid-roll ad slots that can be disruptive to the viewer experience, such as those placed mid-sentence or mid-action, are less likely to serve ads.
• Automated ad slots: You can turn on automatically placed mid-roll ads, which means our systems help to find natural breakpoints in your video for an ad slot.
• Manual and automatic ad slots: You can supplement your manual ad slots with automatic ad slots. This gives our ad systems more choices to serve ads on your video and could increase your ad opportunities.

Note: Ad slots are not guaranteed to serve ads. Our ad systems decide which ad slots may get an ad based on a number of factors to best balance viewer experience, creator earnings and advertiser value.

Mid-roll quality feedback

This feature helps you to see which mid-roll ad slots are unlikely to serve ads. Based on this feedback, you can choose to adjust the ad slot to a more natural breakpoint to increase the chances of ads being shown.

When first uploading a video and placing manual mid-roll ad slots, the initial feedback generally happens within an hour (though this can take longer, especially on longer videos).

After the initial feedback, when you adjust mid-roll ad slots, you will see this information much more quickly, typically in less than a minute.

Manage mid-roll ad slots

Mid-roll ad slots for new uploads

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio on a desktop.
2. In the top right-hand corner, click CREATE Upload videos .
3. Select the file that you'd like to upload.
4. Under Monetisation, select ON for ads and YouTube Premium.
5. Tick the box next to 'Show mid-roll ads during my video'.
6. At the top right, click Continue Save.

By default, automatic mid-roll ad slots are selected for your video. If you'd like to adjust these placements or manually place your own mid-roll ad slots, you'll need to:

1. Select MANAGE AD SLOTS.
   • Add an ad slot: Click INSERT AD SLOT. Enter the start time of the ad or drag the vertical bar to the desired time.
   • Delete an ad slot: Click Delete next to the ad slot.
2. At the top right, click Continue Save.

After saving your changes, manual ad slots will be checked to see if they're likely to serve ads. If they are not, they'll be shown as red. You can then adjust the mid-roll ad slot by moving it in the timeline or updating the timestamp in the editor.

Note: By default, automatic ad slots will be added on top of your manual ad slots. If you'd like to turn them off, untick 'Automatic ad slots'.

Mid-roll ad slots for existing uploads

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio on a desktop.
2. From the left menu, select Content.
3. Choose a video, then select Monetisation .
4. If you haven't already, turn on monetisation for the video.
5. Tick the box next to 'Show mid-roll ads during my video'.
6. At the top right, click Continue Save.

By default, automatic mid-roll ad slots are selected for your video. If you'd like to adjust these placements or manually place your own mid-roll ad slots, you'll need to:

1. Select MANAGE AD SLOTS.
   • Add an ad slot: Click INSERT AD SLOT. Enter the start time of the ad or drag the vertical bar to the desired time.
   • Delete an ad slot: Click Delete next to the ad slot.
2. At the top right, click Continue Save.

After saving your changes, manual ad slots will be checked to see if they're likely to serve ads. If they are not, you'll see this in the Monetisation tab of your video. You can then adjust the mid-roll by moving the slot or adjusting the timestamp in the editor.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean when it says that some of my ad slots are unlikely to show ads?

Mid-roll ad slots are not guaranteed to serve an ad. Our ad systems decide which ad slots may get an ad based on a number of factors to best balance viewer experience, creator earnings and advertiser value.

The feedback feature in YouTube Studio marks certain ad slots in red to indicate that they are unlikely to serve ads. We recommend using this feedback to move your manual mid-roll ad slots to places in your videos that have a higher likelihood of serving an ad.

What should I do if I've turned on automatic ads but no automatic ad slots were inserted?

From time to time, our automatic systems are unable to find ad slots. If you haven't already, try adding manual ad slots to improve your ad opportunities. You can also keep automatic ad slots turned on as our systems will continue to try to find additional mid-roll ad slots.

Does a mid-roll ad slot guarantee that a mid-roll ad will run?

No. Our ad system takes multiple factors into consideration when deciding whether to serve an ad, including the quality of the ad slot itself, advertiser demand and viewer experience, among others.

How do I know whether I should use mid-roll ads?

While YouTube can automatically suggest the best placement for mid-roll ads, you may want to turn off mid-roll ads if you feel they are not appropriate. For example, meditation videos may not be suitable for mid-roll ads.

How do automatically placed mid-roll ads work?

Automatically placed mid-roll ads aim to balance the viewer experience and creator revenue potential. YouTube's advanced machine learning technology looks over a large volume of videos and learns to detect the best places for mid-rolls for creator earnings and viewer experience. This is done by evaluating factors like natural visual or audio breaks.

How long does it take for my manual mid-roll ad slot to be reviewed?

When first uploading a video and placing manual mid-roll ad slots, the initial feedback generally happens within an hour of video processing. After the initial feedback, when you adjust mid-roll ad slots, you will see this information much more quickly, typically in a few minutes.