YouTube’s new livestream ads fix one problem and create another

YouTube is testing and rolling out a new mobile livestream ad format that appears beside the stream instead of covering it.

The ad change reduces visual interruption, but it still takes over the stream’s audio during playback.

Viewers cannot mute the ad while it runs, so the live experience is still disrupted in an important way.

The format may be less annoying on screen, but it could also encourage more users to upgrade to YouTube Premium.