YouTube wants to monetize its growing TV dominance with AI-powered ad formats
The platform is doubling down on sports and bingeable content, as well as introducing new tech that will show ads at “peak” moments in videos.
It’s been a big week for TV, with the annual “upfront” period kicking off in New York, where television titans put on extravagant sales presentations to draw in big advertising advances — a mainstay of the ad industry since the 1960s Madison Avenue days.
This year, though, was different. Not only did the uncertainty of looming tariffs tighten the purse strings of some of TV’s biggest spenders, but a growing force in the space threatened both traditional broadcast networks like NBCUniversal and Paramount and streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon.
Indeed, all eyes were on YouTube — the video sharing and social media platform that’s fast becoming the biggest thing on TV. Some are even predicting that it will soon surpass Disney to become the biggest media company in the world. In fact, YouTube’s ad business alone is already bringing in close to the massive total revenues that behemoth Netflix has been notching.
Totally tubular
The Alphabet-owned company’s upfront event, Brandcast 2025, took place at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, and beyond a star-studded lineup — including a blowout performance from Lady Gaga and appearances from YouTube heavyweights MrBeast and “Hot Ones” host Sean Evans — the company also outlined some novel initiatives for advertising opportunities on the platform.
Perhaps the most alarming was a new ad format called “Peak Points,” which uses Google’s Gemini AI to identify parts of YouTube videos that will drive the most viewer engagement — and then place ads right after them. Another new feature that definitely won’t become annoying for viewers is the introduction of shoppable TV ads, capitalizing on “big-screen-little-screen” viewing culture by allowing users to browse suggested products on TV, then scan a QR code on their phones to get a direct link to buy them.
But YouTube’s major selling point to ad execs was, of course, that it’s now television’s most-watched distributor, beating all other networks and streamers to garner a 12% share of TV viewership in March, per Nielsen estimates. Innovations aside, YouTube’s ability to imitate (and replace) other entertainment outlets will be another big draw: the company also announced that it’s expanding its NFL offerings and piloting a program that allows creators to organize their content into bingeable TV shows.
