YouTube Announces Gemini AI Feature to Target Ads When Viewers are Most Engaged (techcrunch.com) 62
A new YouTube tool will let advertisers use Google's Gemini AI model to target ads to viewers when they're most engaged, reports CNBC:
Peak Points has the potential to enable more impressions and a higher click-through rate on YouTube, a primary metric that determines how creators earn money on the video platform... Peak Points is currently in a pilot program and will be rolling out over the rest of the year.
The product "aims to benefit advertisers by using a tactic that aims to grab users' attention right when they're most invested in the content," reports TechCrunch: This approach appears to be similar to a strategy called emotion-based targeting, where advertisers place ads that align with the emotions evoked by the video. It's believed that when viewers experience heightened emotional states, it leads to better recall of the ads. However, viewers may find these interruptions frustrating, especially when they're deeply engaged in the emotional arc of a video and want the ad to be over quickly to resume watching.
In related news, YouTube announced another ad format that may be more appealing to users. The platform debuted a shoppable product feed where users can browse and purchase items during an ad.
The product "aims to benefit advertisers by using a tactic that aims to grab users' attention right when they're most invested in the content," reports TechCrunch: This approach appears to be similar to a strategy called emotion-based targeting, where advertisers place ads that align with the emotions evoked by the video. It's believed that when viewers experience heightened emotional states, it leads to better recall of the ads. However, viewers may find these interruptions frustrating, especially when they're deeply engaged in the emotional arc of a video and want the ad to be over quickly to resume watching.
In related news, YouTube announced another ad format that may be more appealing to users. The platform debuted a shoppable product feed where users can browse and purchase items during an ad.
I'm never interested. (Score:3)
I'm never interested in any content coming from ads. In a given month, I'm perhaps interested in buying something new for the whole 15 minutes, cumulatively. But guess what? When I do want to buy something, I don't rely on ads. I do my own research, find the best deal, buy the damn thing and do not think about buying anything else for a week.
Re: (Score:2)
Then you're not the target of this change. Ads do work, even if only a small percentage of viewers follow them.
Re: I'm never interested. (Score:2)
Perhaps not. But it annoys the hell out of me. Vrt off my lawn/screen!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
For now. In a few years, you'll probably see ads even if you pay for a subscription. Happened with cable TV, operating systems, and many other things.
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately, this is already the case as the content creators advertise for sponsors as the ads/monetization is unreliable, or to get extra revenue. So even with a subscription, you get ads in the videos.
This idea of targeting ads right when you're most engaged is how you optimize pissing someone off. Who wants to see an ad right when they are most engaged? You'll be most pissed off and the first thing you see is something they want you to buy- so you associate that anger and dislike with that product
Re: I'm never interested. (Score:2)
Partially, yes. But not on black-box devices like TVs or consoles.
Re: (Score:2)
Ads do work, even if only a small percentage of viewers follow them.
Well, Google and the other ad slingers would do better to use their AI to identify those viewers and only send ads to them. The AI could easily realize there are people who never look at ads and don't buy stuff from commercials. Sending ads to those people is just a waste of time and resources.
Re: (Score:2)
No, they are targeting them too.
Ads effect everyone whether they believe they do or not. Simple brand recognition is a big deal, if you've been seeing brand X everywhere but haven't seen brand Y mentioned anywhere then brand X will seem like a reputable mainstream brand and Y will seem like an off brand.
Basically, ads effect you in all sorts of unconscious ways.
It's like ending prices in .99. We all know $5.99 is practically the same price as $6.00 but this trick still effects how you perceive the price. Aw
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. Same here. Why would I rely on adsters to make any decision except to expliticely stay away from a product bad enough that it needs to be aggressively pushed?
Re:I'm never interested [in what they are selling] (Score:2)
Interesting opening to the discussion. Thank you for the FP.
In theory, I think it could be possible for ads to be helpful, but it's a complicated and twisty theory. What would be going on in this theoretical scenario wold be a kind of auction for my business, but it would involve several variables. One is the pool of profitable companies that can afford to seek me as a potential customer, but their intrusions would be moderated by considering my real needs and whether or not each particular company actually
Re: (Score:2)
YouTube calls them "ads" but most of us know them as *SCAMS*.
Whether it's some ludicrous (and potentially dangerous) "7 second health hack" that will fix your incontenence, diabetes, brain-fog.. [insert malady here]" or a laser welder that turns out to be a chintzy-cheap soldering iron, the scams that masquerade as ads on YouTube grow in number and magnitude every day.
If a content creator is even alleged to have engaged in "deceptive practices" or "scams" then their videos or even their entire channel is de
Right when we're mostly likely to hit Skip? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm no behaviorist, but when I'm most engaged in a video is when I'm least likely to tolerate an ad. This will cause me to
a) hate the product
b) mash the skip button.
Case in point: Liberty Mutual
Re:Right when we're mostly likely to hit Skip? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yup, especially when watching a science lecture or interview. The scientist could be talking about some intricate aspect of a particular physical theory and....BLAM...."Have you considered how your urethra is screaming for Pee-Are-Us, our urethra cleaning system which will make your urethra HAPPY and make your life wonderful, see our beautiful model here....you'd be doing her right now if only your urethra was HAPPY."....strong force acts on up quarks by changing them into down quarks thus altering the fine structure constant of the universe.
That's okay then, since it's not what will happen (Score:3)
I find that there's a serious double problem with slashdot, where first of all the summaries are crap, and then the readers don't follow the links before commenting.
To quote the TechCrunch article: "Peak Points leverages Google’s Gemini AI to analyze YouTube videos and identify moments it believes have the highest viewer engagement or are most emotionally impactful, and then suggests placing the ad right after it." (There is an example there.)
Please note the "right after it". You're assuming (as did I
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I find that there's a serious double problem with slashdot, where first of all the summaries are crap, and then the readers don't follow the links before commenting.
The summaries are garbage on purpose to increase engagement.
The cryptocucks running this shit show are manipulating us on purpose, just like so many people on this site claim is the reason they avoid social media.
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds like you're working for youtube's ad department. 8) Noone wants ANY ads in the first place . After before or specially during viewing a video. That's the enshitification of youtube right there. Using people's emotions to sell them crap is dirty , just as subliminal crap was. Mind controllers from the advertisement and marketing departments are justy monsters without conscience. Fuck the people as long as we sell SELL SEEEEEELLLL ..
Re: (Score:2)
I find that there's a serious double problem with slashdot, where first of all the summaries are crap, and then the readers don't follow the links before commenting.
Lol you must be new here. Reading the stories and following links is for posers- you're just supposed to pop off with whatever comes to mind, hit Submit, and Bob's yer uncle.
Re: (Score:3)
Liberty, Liberty, Liiiberty, Liiiberty.
Fucking hell.
Re: Right when we're mostly likely to hit Skip? (Score:2)
It's pronounced "Bibberty".
Re: Right when we're mostly likely to hit Skip? (Score:2)
Coitus interruptus
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder how much of advertising works by someone being consciously attentive to an ad, and how much is simply having the brand & logo permeating through people's everyday spaces. Without them necessarily being consciously "engaged" with a specific message.
For example, you see company logos bordering an ice skating rink, although nobody pays conscious attention to the logos. They are only engaged with the skater.
I get the feeling they get diminishing or even negative returns by pumping up the "engagemen
So this may explain (Score:4, Interesting)
Why just as a speaker was wrapping up their first main point the other day on YT, I get an ad for widgets? Worse than the traditional cliffhanger broadcast commercial breaks. We have ceded control of the remote to three-year-olds.
A sad fact of life is... (Score:2)
Surely (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Surely (Score:1)
Did you just say capitalism is really just about bothering everyone?
Re: (Score:2)
Ad "quality" is measures in how much you remember an ad, not how much you liked it. Hence that irritation may be exactly the point. As YouTube thinks you cannot live without them, they do not think you may simply leave and find a better use for your time.
Haven't seen an ad... (Score:1)
... but HOW? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
LOL "permission" It will be hard coded in, and darn near impossible to bypass.
Not even with a little piece of tape?
Re: ... but HOW? (Score:1)
Can they sense expressions through wifi yet?
Re: (Score:2)
No need. There are applications that make certain windows stay on top. (On linux, with a good window manager, that is simply a window attribute, no need for an application.) Mere browsers cannot do anything aboyt that and may not even be able to detect it.
Re: ... but HOW? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They already have the "most repeated" graphs. I guess they will just place the ads at the peaks.
Re: (Score:2)
The Mighty Elon is out there, and surely ready to forge a free-speech competitor for streamers.
The way he's losing money, having alienated the people who used to purchase his products, while failing to convince his new allies to purchase in their place, that's doubtful.
Re: (Score:2)
You're off your meds again, aren't you?
It's almost like... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
No. Like some other big-ego-small-clue assholes, they think they are indispensable and everybody needs them. Hence they monetize to the max they can. That they will simply die (because _everybody_ hates then) once a reasonable competitor emerges is something they cannot understand. Reminds me of Intel, MicroSoft and others. Obviously, that reasonable competitor may take a while to make its appearance and obviously, the dying will be slow, but die they will.
Let the games begin (Score:2)
I wonder how long until we see Youtubers gaming the system to steer where the ads appear. Like people are using bullshit words like undead to please algorithms, they will uses catch phrases that get gemini to put the ads where they want them to be.
So when do we know when the perpetrators are... (Score:2)
.."most engages' for their nuking?
So glad to enable YouTube Premium. (Score:2)
THIS is why I bought into a YouTube Premium account. That way, I don't have to frustratingly deal with ad interruptions all the time, especially on longer videos. Yes, I know it's US$13.95 per month, but given the cost of a premium Starbucks drink or even a fast food meal nowadays, it's definitely worth it.
Hey Gemini! (Score:2)
OK Gemini. How do I watch TikTok shorts in diagonal view on this shizz, Yo?
What are these "ads" that you're talking about? (Score:2)
How can one see them on youtube?
I basically mute all ads now. (Score:1)
And cover the screen with my thumb so I can't see the ad. Plus my brain already automatically defocuses and makes an active effort to not remember the ad.
And I hate the "we are going to give you a chance to skip... nope... second ad" trick so much I often leave the video as soon as the first video starts ( there's a clue the ad will be unskippable ) and don't come back.
However, I do watch Geico ads, even tho I've never had their insurance. And I watch the Mayhem insurance ads, even tho I've never had th
Thoughtful Analogy (Score:1)
This smacks of having sex, getting to the point of climax, then your partner throws up a photo of your parents doing something wholesome while asking, "Have you called them? They miss you."
Eff you, Youtube (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I recomment the Vivaldi Browser. The people behind it have YouTube ad-blocking as one of their main selling points (non-stated, I think). At the moment, it just skips ads by playing them at infinite speed and you may have to click a "continue" button for pre-roll ads, but they adapt pretty fast whenever YouTube reacts.
Re: (Score:2)
That seems convoluted. My Firefox with uBlock Origin acts like ads don't exist. At all. No skipping, no clicking. I am not even aware that there could be ads.
The only thing I am cognizant of is the in-video-ads which SponsorBlock skips.
Re: (Score:2)
Most ads get skipped. For some that apparently does not work. It is a newer thing though, until a few months ago I had the same situation with Vivaldi. Maybe Firefox has now a market-share so low that YouTube has stopped caring...
Great, more enshittification (Score:2)
But I do not really get it. I never watch ads. I switch computers (old-fashined KVM switch), tabs (and mute sound) or simply go away. Ads are painfully stupid and obvious and, these days, literally drive me away.
Does this mean there are actually people that sit though ads? If so, if find it hard to think of them as anything else than the very agents that make enshittification of the ad-tastiv cersion possible. Do these people exist? Do they realize that they make everything worse for everybody else?
Re: Great, more enshittification (Score:2)
and mute sound
Switch to PulseAudio. Then your sound will be permanently disabled.
Re: (Score:2)
I am systemd-free. No place here for any other crap by Poettering.
A tale of two divisions of one company (Score:2)
Google Deep mind is using AI to solve real problems in science
Youtube is misusing AI to make our lives worse
Isn't YouTube ... (Score:2)
Engagement to enragment conversion (Score:2)