YouTube announced this week that it will adjust the advertising logic in live broadcasts on the platform: when the interaction in the live chat room reaches its peak, or when viewers actively support the anchor through Super Chat, Super Stickers, gifts, etc., the system will suspend advertising to avoid damaging the current viewing atmosphere. Previously, if users wanted to watch content on YouTube without advertising, they could basically only subscribe to YouTube Premium.
YouTube said in a blog post that when live chat rooms "explode," the platform wants to "protect this collective atmosphere," so when the system detects unusually active interactions, it will automatically postpone ads for all viewers. According to officials, this move is designed to help creators maintain the rhythm of live broadcasts at critical moments and reduce interruptions by advertisements, thereby improving the overall viewing experience.
On the other hand, if viewers tip a host through Super Chat, Super Stickers or gifts, they will be rewarded with a personal “ad-free window” immediately after completing their purchase. Super Chat is a feature where viewers pay to highlight chat content, and Super Stickers are image stickers that users purchase to make messages more prominent in the chat area.
In addition to this change, YouTube is also rolling out a series of updates for live broadcast creators. The platform announced that creators in more regions around the world can now receive gifts from viewers, and the gift function has been expanded to markets such as Canada, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. In addition, viewers can now send GIFs during a horizontal live broadcast, instead of being limited to a vertical live broadcast, and do so directly from their phone.
YouTube also said that creators can now broadcast in both portrait and landscape formats at the same time, and all viewers will come together in the same shared chat room to interact. According to the official introduction, more than 30% of live broadcast viewing time in the United States in 2025 will come from large-screen TV devices in the living room. Therefore, the platform hopes that creators can customize live broadcast presentation methods for different screens while maintaining a unified interactive space.
The change comes shortly after YouTube just raised the price of Premium subscriptions. The company has recently raised subscription fees in the United States, with the monthly YouTube Premium individual plan rising from $13.99 to $15.99 and the family plan rising from $22.99 to $26.99.