YouTube ads are about to get a lot trickier to dodge. The video streaming platform is rolling out a new ad strategy it calls ‘Peak Points’, which entails leveraging Gemini AI to detect the most emotionally impactful or most-watched moments of a video, and then feeding the viewer a targeted ad right after.
YouTube pulls the purse strings
Peak Points works on what’s known as emotion-based targeting, which tries to integrate advertising into the emotion of the programming. The idea seems to be that the more emotionally congruent the ad is with the content, the less jarring it is for the viewer, and the easier it is for viewers to remember the ads.
Some would call it consistent, others might call it also call it a tad bit manipulative.YouTube has not stopped trying to tinker with new payment and advertising strategies to rope more of its massive viewership into its Premium subscription service.
From making viewers’ lives ever more uncomfortable with ads and the never-ending battle against ad-blockers, to experimenting with different payment tiers for viewers who don’t want to pay the full premium price. Next time you catch yourself having fun watching a video, watch your back.
