Dear Twitch,

I think I speak for most of the streaming community when I say we do NOT like your new mid-roll strategy. Ads are among the biggest annoyances on the site and the solution is not to give us more ads. Here are some ideas on making ads on Twitch better for both the creator and the viewer.

1. Give the creators an actual cut of the ad revenue
   Right now, this is absolutely peanuts when you compare it to other video content sites, it’s actually insane. This would make running ads also a bit more attractive for creators and viewers will know that these ads would actually support their favourite creators a lot more than now.




2. Make your ads shorter and skippable
   The ads that are currently running on Twitch are often way too long. Myself and other viewers have often skipped these ads by simply going to a different channel, that is not okay. That should not happen.




3. Consider adding closable lower third ads
   When you first launch a stream you can have a lower third ad hovering over the videoplayer. Be sure to make it so that viewers can click these away.




4. Let creators and viewers (individually) control mid-rolls
   I really like the fact that as a creator you can roll an ad, for instance, when you need to take a snack break or toilet break. What if we add a feature like that for every viewer. Let’s say you have a button somewhere next to the stream that viewers can opt for an ad to support their favourite creators, this way both the creator and the viewer has more control over when they want to see ads.




5. Bits for ads
   Why is this not a thing worldwide? This is such a nice concept and should be implemented all over the world because it gives the chance for viewers that can’t afford a sub or bits to give bits anyway by just saving them up by watching ads here and there. This can go hand in hand with the ad button for viewers.




6. A certain amount of paid subs (gift subs excluded) = Twitch Turbo
   Lastly, make it so that viewers that have a certain amount of paid subscriptions across multiple channels have Twitch Turbo perks. However, they could still opt to see ads to support a streamer with the button and still see mid-rolls from the streamer.

In summary, I think there is a lot to learn from other platforms in regards to ads on Twitch. These are just some loose ideas, I’m sure there are plenty of people that have better ideas than me or that can make these ideas even better. Thank you for reading and hopefully, maybe, something will be done with this.

Special shoutout to @HarrisHeller and @Jasper55RL (both on Twitter) for providing some of the points talked about in this post.

Automatic mid-roll ads would be much better for the streamer and viewers if there's ads that doesn't interrupt the stream audio content totally, instead just taking most of the screen to display the product/service advertised, with the stream visual being shown in the picture-in-picture. Leaving it as an option (if mid-roll ads have sounds or not) to the streamer would be the best so you could know what the creators want to have on their stream. I know silent ads usually doesn't pays as much as full video ads with sounds, but having less intrusive ads would allow you to play more ads before it's too much for the viewers and have them quit/use an ad blocker.

Right now Partners and Affiliates have the ability to give their subscribers 'ad free viewing'. I think subscribers should be able to opt-in to watching ads on a channel their subscribed to even if the channel has 'ad free viewing' turned on for subscribers.
There's not many ways you can have an ad feature that is a win for everyone involved, but I think this is one of those ways.

For Twitch:
- More ads watched on their site.

For Streamers:
- More ad revenue, while also keeping 'ad free viewing' as a perk for those who want to subscribe.

For Viewers:
- More control/choice over the content they're watching. The would be able to toggle ad free viewing on or off depending on if they want to see ads or not.

Some people may wonder why even have this as a feature?
My reason is because right now the streamer only gets ad revenue for ads that are viewed. If you have 'ad free viewing' turned on for subscribers, then none of those viewers will see the ads. If a channel's viewers are made up of mostly subscribers then no ad revenue is being made from an ad break. If anything that ad break is turning away non-subscribers who are the only one's seeing the ads.
Some subscribers may want the ability to support the channel their watching through viewing an ad so the streamer gets that ad revenue. It would be 100% voluntary by the subscriber to toggle on, and give them another way to support Twitch and it's streamers.

Ads are intrusive, annoying and serve no real value to a viewer or creator in a live streaming platform. But if they must exist, why not make them not so intrusive to the experience?

Currently the PIP solution does nothing good for either party. It still essentially shuts off the stream on a whim and if people don't know where to look, it's all but gone for the time the ad is running. Why not put the Ad window where the stream window goes now, and let the stream keep running as normal, so we continue our engagement with the creators and enjoy our time using the platform.

After having read your new feature that allows streamers to disable Pre-Rolls by playing enough ads (30 seconds = 10 minutes), I think you've missed the mark slightly.

I DO think it's a good idea to disable the pre-roll for people discovering new content. As such, I believe a better implementation of the no preroll idea is the following:

• No pre-roll for users the FIRST time they join your stream BUT a forced 30 second 10 minutes into the stream if they stay.

This solves two problems. First, it solves the problem of discouraging people from discovering new content. You have clearly identified an issue with pre-rolls in how it impacts new viewers and presented the current solution. Second, it solves the financial issue by running the ad they would have seen in the pre-roll. It's the best of ALL worlds.

Would love to get more information on how automated mid-rolls will work -- and specifically instruction for streamers on how to avoid them, if possible.

In short, the idea your stream would be interrupted without your control is a scary concept. Either it's going to be better for streamers to control the mid-roll experience themselves, or the experience is something more experimental that isn't clear (vs. simply interrupting a stream).

In the Twitch Support initial Tweet it says "these [mid-roll ads] won't run if the viewer has an ad break." Can you clarify? FAQ seems to be missing how to control mid-rolls (e.g. randomly served) if the creator manually runs? It only discusses how to "disable pre-roll" in the FAQ.

As possible additional information, it would be great to get a potential range of how many viewers it might effect in what territories.

Regarding this page: https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/ad-experience-experiment?language=en_US

So mid-roll ads are going to happen, if we like it or not

How about telling the creator before they happen so that they still have time to do an ad break on their terms?

What if 10min before a mid-roll ad would take place the ad button in the stream manager turns red and displays a 10min countdown. The creator will have 10min to do an ad break on his/her terms - if he/she does, no (additional) mid-roll ad; if he/she doesn’t, play the mid-roll ad after the countdown is over

That way you get what you want which is people watching ads, while creators still get some sort of control over it

If you are going to have midrolls you need to provide us tools to work with the midrolls as best we can as creators. Enough people have given you a reason it is a bad idea. I am offering up ideas to make it at least workable if you continue this route.

• We need a countdown on the streamer dash and the mod view on when the next ad will roll. Like a producer would have.


• We need a limited ability to push back an adroll. Like a one time 2 minute snooze button, or a trigger early button.


• We need an API triggered event when an ad runs so that we can use our bots to let us know, so we can wait on what we are doing.


• The ONLY reason I would want this is to eliminate preroll ads. If you aren't eliminating preroll just don't bother.

The feedback that I have seen about automatic mid-roll ads has been entirely negative, which is not surprising to me at all. No one likes being forced into situations even when it could be good for them.
I've seen lots of posts from streamers saying they don't like the loss of control and viewers saying that you should fix ads for bits, which says to me that the issue is not ads, it is how the ads are being presented.

The entire platform is built around the idea of interactive entertainment, so why are the ads being treated differently?
My suggestion is to give the viewers the controls.

If they have to watch ads, make it transparent how often ads need to be played and give them the option of when to play them so it isn't going to interrupt an important scene.
Make the ads interactive in some way. Enable voting on the sorts of ads that they like/dislike, encourage advertisers to make gamified ads.
Offer incentives for watching the ads. Make ads temporarily unlock exclusive emotes, watch enough ads to get a subscription to a random channel.

The implementation of ads at the moment seems very old, heavy handed and not at all on brand. You should take the parts that people like about Twitch and apply it so that ads become an experience that people can enjoy, not something that they just have to deal with to get to what they actually want.

As a streamer myself I understand that people like their own Twitch page to be theirs to control. A lot of people disable ads on their own channel and a lot will also run them willingly while streaming. Try giving more options we can opt into on our own channels. Without blocking our content at the same time, unless we choose to do so. Here's an idea or so:

• Brb ads
  (We already have, and do get used. Nice example to start)




• Lower thirds
  (Could allow us to set them to pop up as often as we like. Minimum of every X minutes that you (Twitch) can make a pre requisite for signing up.)




• Chatbox ads
  (For me personally, my average chatbox can show roughly 20 messages. Will be different for everyone with resolutions and zoom. We don't NEED to see those messages all the time. We've already read the ones at the top. Add an option where occasionally the top half of the box contains an ad.)




• Ads for channel points
  (I understand that the bit ads actually cost you too. With bits being a real currency. However, channel points are just data. Totally free on your end (I assume). Why not offer people an option to boost channel points with an ad? In fact I'll take this one slightly further. EVERYONE loves emotes. We all strive to unlock as many as we can! If we could make community pools where the viewers work together to hit a goal that could unlock emote slots! This way it costs nobody anything. And we all win. Granted, there are viewers who already have a ton of channel points. This may ruin it. If that's a big issue then make a second set of points. Name them ad points and only allow those to be used.)




• Panel Ads
  (We all have panels below our streams, and yes they don't get seen all too often. But they are there. use them, offer us to have an ad space down there with our other tabs. These are probably my weakest idea but it's worth a shot.)




• Ad timer
  (If you do keep the mid-roll ads, stick a timer on screen a minute in advance. Inform us "Ad running in 0:59", This allows us to prepare for it an advance. Pause our games, move to a intermission screen, whatever it may be. At least this way they don't pop out of nowhere and people miss you getting the final blow on the hard mode boss you've been grinding for over 3 days)

Hope even just 1 of these ideas helps somehow. Good luck!

The size of a channel matters when you are looking to make ad revenue. Larger audiences are likely to have a larger number of potential ad viewers. Obviously, the sub/non-sub viewer ratio is important, but larger channels are likely to have a higher potential for ad revenue than smaller channels.

Scaling the time needed to disable pre-roll ads will encourage smaller channels to run ads. When pre-roll ads are disabled, there is a higher chance a new viewer will enter the channel potentially helping to grow that channel.

To "tag" along with the idea, add a tag under a preview window showing which channels have pre-roll ads disabled so the viewer doesn't waste time waiting through a pre-roll ad to see if they may like the channel's content.

Ads should be created to work with the live stream, and not force the live stream to work around ads. Shaping content around ad breaks feels scripted and takes away from the "live" experience. In most cases, there are not enough viewers in a smaller channel to encourage the streamer to run ads to increase their monthly income. So, in turn that channel does not help support the platform. Working to scale ad run times with the size of the channel has the potential to help both the streamer and the platform.