YouTube Expands Hype Program and Prepares for Mid-Roll Ad Placement Changes

YouTube continues to refine its platform to support emerging creators and improve monetization tools. The company has recently announced the expansion of its Hype beta program and shared important updates regarding mid-roll ad placements, which will go into effect starting May 2025.

Hype Program: More Exposure for Emerging Creators

The Hype program allows viewers to support promising creators by allocating special “Hype points” to their videos. These upvotes help boost visibility by pushing the videos higher on a new creator leaderboard in the app — adding a layer of crowd-sourced amplification on top of YouTube’s usual algorithmic recommendations.

YouTube has now extended this initiative to Taiwan, Brazil, and Turkey. Eligible creators must be part of the YouTube Partner Program, have between 500 and 500,000 subscribers, and follow YouTube’s Community Guidelines.

Once a video is published, viewers can assign Hype points during the first 7 days — no manual action needed from creators. The new leaderboard aims to highlight trending content from emerging channels, offering a valuable opportunity for exposure and audience growth.

For brands and marketers working with newer YouTube creators, this program can be a useful tool to gain organic traction and reach niche audiences more effectively.

Upcoming Changes to Mid-Roll Ads: Automation Meets Optimization

YouTube also announced that starting in May, mid-roll ad placements will be automatically inserted into natural breaks within videos. This change is aimed at increasing revenue potential and enhancing viewer experience. Importantly, YouTube’s systems will also apply this to older videos.

To help creators adapt, YouTube is rolling out a new feedback feature in YouTube Studio that shows which manually placed ad slots are unlikely to serve. Creators can use this data to adjust their placements for better ad delivery.

YouTube encourages a hybrid approach — combining manual and automatic ad placements — to maximize earning opportunities. However, if creators want to keep full control, they’ll need to opt out of automatic placement in the “Earn” tab in YouTube Studio before May 12.

What This Means for Marketers

• If your marketing strategy includes influencer collaborations or branded content on YouTube, the Hype program can help your partners gain more visibility and community support.
• The mid-roll changes are designed to increase ad inventory and earnings, but it’s important to review your content and adjust ad settings to ensure ads don’t disrupt the viewer experience.

Overall, these updates reflect YouTube’s ongoing efforts to support content growth, monetization, and discoverability — all essential tools in today’s video marketing ecosystem.

This article available in Ukrainian.