YouTube is testing a new live stream ad format

If you aren't a huge fan of mid-roll ads on YouTube live streams, you might like the new feature the platform is currently testing out.

Picture-in-picture ads could become the future of live stream advertising on the platform -- that is, if the tests go well. Instead of disruptively cutting to a mid-roll ad in the middle of a stream, an ad would simply play in a smaller window on top of the stream as it continued.

When YouTube first introduced mid-roll ads to live streams, many creators using the feature reportedly saw an increase in their ad revenue. The idea is similar to commercials playing on network television -- it discourages people from skipping the ads because the program they tuned in to watch will be returning soon. And they don't always know exactly when.

However, picture-in-picture ads would remove the need for streamers to pause their broadcast in order to allow the mid-roll ad to play. They could even potentially get creative with the time the overlaid ads play on viewers' screens, similarly to how some creators read their own sponsored ads to try to make them as entertaining for their audiences as possible.

Even if ad revenue is always fluxuating, and more and more creators are finding it difficult to rely on it as a primary income stream, ads are still extremely important to content creators and influencers alike. Many content creators make their videos and other media available for free for maximum exposure, but just because someone makes YouTube videos on a regular basis doesn't mean they don't also need to afford to eat and pay their bills.

This is all a delicate balance between the platform and its creators making money and keeping users and audience members happy. Perhaps this will end up being a compromise even more viewers will prefer over other options.