Monetize your live stream

You can earn revenue on your live streams by:

• Turning on ads, and
• Using Super Chat & Super Stickers for Live Chat.

Some channels may also have access to channel memberships for their viewers.

Note: If the player is embedded on an external site with auto start, ads will be turned off for your live stream.

Ads on live streams

If your channel is monetized and your live stream is eligible, YouTube will trigger ads to serve on your content. Ad serving is not guaranteed and some viewers may not get an ad. Live streams can be eligible for:

• Pre-roll ads run before the live stream. These ads are viewable on mobile and a computer.
• Mid-roll ads run during the live stream. These ads can be automatically or manually inserted for computer streams.
• Display and overlay ads run beside or over content. These ads are viewable on a computer.

How to trigger mid-roll ads

Trigger mid-roll ads for one live stream:

1. Open YouTube Studio.
2. Click Create Go live.
3. Start a live stream now from the Stream tab or schedule a live stream from the Manage tab.
4. From the top, click Edit Monetization.
5. Make sure Monetization is set to On.
   1. To automatically insert ads into your live stream, check the box next to “Automatically place mid-roll ads during your stream.” We still tell you when an ad is about to play for viewers, in case you want to skip it. You can also manually insert more ads during your live stream by clicking Insert Ad from the top right.
   2. To manually insert all ads into your live stream, don’t check the box next to “Automatically place mid-roll ads during your stream.”
6. Click Save.

To manually insert an ad during you stream, select Insert Ad from the top right.

If eligible, ads are triggered to serve within seconds. It is not guaranteed that all viewers will get an ad. These viewers will continue to watch your live stream.

If a viewer skips the ad or the ad ends, they will rejoin the live stream.

Trigger mid-roll ads for all upcoming live streams:

1. Open YouTube Studio.
2. Click Create Go live.
3. From the top, click Edit Monetization.
4. Make sure Monetization is set to On.
5. Check the box next to “Automatically place mid-roll ads during your stream.” We still tell you when an ad is about to play for viewers, in case you want to skip it.
6. Click Save.

Mobile live streams

 Mid-roll ads are currently not available for insertion via mobile streams.

Webcam live streams

Mid-roll ads are currently not available for insertion via webcam live streams.