YouTube unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature for its advertisers on Wednesday. The new feature, dubbed Peak Points, was showcased at the company’s Brandcast event held in New York. The Google-owned video streaming giant said that the feature will use Gemini to determine the moment in a video where viewers are most engaged. This moment will then be picked as an ad slot to maximise the reach of the advertisement. Notably, the feature is currently said to be available as a pilot programme.
In a blog post, YouTube detailed the new advertiser-focused feature. Ads are one of the most important revenue streams for the video streaming company. Not only does it bring revenue to the company, but it also helps monetise videos, and a percentage of total ad revenue from the video is shared with the creators.
In the past, the company has placed ads at the beginning of the videos, added unskippable ads, and even gone after those who use ad-blockers to avoid seeing ads. According to a report, YouTube is also working on showing ads that appear when a video is paused. All of these measures are likely to ensure that more people watch ads.
The fundamentals behind the newly unveiled Peak Points feature are also along the same vein. YouTube said that it will leverage Gemini to analyse videos and find out the moments when viewers are most engaged. These could be a climactic moment in the video, or a moment right before something special occurs.
In a demo video showcasing the feature, Gemini was able to pinpoint an ad window right before a person proposes to his girlfriend. According to a CNBC report, Gemini finds out these moments by analysing the video frame-by-frame and going through the transcript of the video. The company did not specify if user behaviour (pausing a video at a specific spot, or rewinding the video multiple times) was also collected and analysed for this feature.
While the feature is likely to improve the reach of advertisements, it can also lead to frustration among viewers as ads will be played right before a key moment in a video, breaking the immersion. The feature is reportedly in its pilot phase and will be rolled out in different regions throughout the year.
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Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club – Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More
