Improvements Coming to Twitch Advertising in 2023
Twitch viewers and streamers have expressed frustration over the increased frequency of ads on the platform. In response, Twitch executives published an open letter on the platform’s blog, outlining their plans to enhance the user experience and make changes to pre-roll ads.
In the open letter, Twitch executives announced that in 2023, they will introduce more flexible advertising tools, additional options for earning, and new ways to engage with communities. One significant change will be made to pre-roll ads, which are commercial advertisements that play when a viewer opens a Twitch channel.
In the past, pre-roll ads combined with the already high density of ads on Twitch often hindered the viewing experience, especially for viewers who frequently switch between channels. Twitch plans to disable pre-roll ads on channels that already run at least three minutes of ads per hour, though it was not specified when this change would take effect.
Twitch Chief Monetization Officer Mike Minton and Chief Product Officer Tom Verrilli explained, “Running three minutes of ads per hour in any way will disable all pre-rolls. They no longer have to be split into 90-second ads every 30 minutes. Second, we’re applying our Picture-by-Picture experience to the majority of pre-rolls that viewers do see.”
Twitch is also exploring ways to notify viewers when scheduled ads are imminent and allow them to snooze mid-roll ads. This feature will be especially beneficial during exciting moments in streams when a mid-roll ad break could disrupt the action.
Additionally, Twitch plans to update its Ads Incentive Program, which compensates streamers for running a certain number of ads. The platform aims to make the program more flexible, allowing streamers to adjust the frequency of ads they show. Twitch also intends to give streamers more control over ads through changes to the Ads Manager.
The exact timeline for implementing these changes has not been specified, but Twitch’s open letter hints at a significantly improved user ad experience in the future.