Monetizing Your Live Stream
YouTube has added more flexible tools to help creators earn money during live streams, especially through ads, memberships, and Super Chat features.
Ways to Earn During Live Streams
You can monetize live streams using:
- Ads (pre-roll, mid-roll, and side-by-side ads)
- Super Chat & Super Stickers
- Channel memberships
New Mid-Roll Ad Features
1. Take a Break Ads
This lets you pause your stream and earn during breaks.
- Choose break length: 1, 3, or 5 minutes
- Show either:
- A default “away” screen, or
- A custom video from your channel
- Eligible viewers may see ads during this break
You must manually end the break when you return.
2. Side-by-Side Ads
These ads:
- Run next to the live stream (not interrupting it)
- Automatically appear on eligible streams
- Work best when automatic mid-roll ads are enabled
Types of Ads in Live Streams
Pre-roll ads
- Play before the stream starts
- Automatically enabled when monetization is on
Mid-roll ads
- Appear during the stream
- Can be:
- Automatic (YouTube chooses timing)
- Manual (you place them yourself)
Side-by-side ads
- Appear alongside the stream
- Less disruptive to viewers
Automatic Mid-Roll Ads
You can choose how aggressive ads are:
- Low → fewer ads, lower earnings
- Medium → balanced
- High → more ads, higher earnings
You can also set:
- Time between ads (6–30 minutes)
YouTube estimates earnings based on past performance, but results vary.
Delaying Ads
If you’re in an important moment:
- You can pause ads for 10 minutes
- After that, ads resume automatically
- Manual ads will still run if you insert them
Channel-Level Ad Settings
You can set default monetization settings for all future streams:
- Open Live Control Room → Settings
- Choose default ad behavior
- Most channels default to “Let YouTube decide”
Take a Break Feature (Away Screen)
This feature shows an “away screen” while you step away.
How it works:
- Activate from Live Control Room (stopwatch icon)
- Choose 1, 3, or 5 minutes
- Viewers may see ads or an away screen instead of your stream
You can display:
- Default YouTube overlay, or
- A custom video (must be public or unlisted + embeddable)
Setting Up an Away Screen
You can also:
- Add a browser overlay in streaming software (like OBS)
- Paste YouTube’s overlay URL
- Sync it with your stream layout
- Ads are not guaranteed for all viewers
- Not everyone sees ads at the same time
- If no ad is shown, viewers continue watching normally
- Embedded streams with autoplay usually disable ads
- You must manually end “Take a Break” mode
Revenue Tracking
You can view live stream earnings in:
- YouTube Analytics → Revenue → Live filter
This includes:
- Ad revenue
- Super Chats
- Membership earnings
- YouTube now supports more flexible, less disruptive ads
- “Take a Break” lets creators monetize downtime
- Side-by-side ads reduce interruption
- Automatic ads can increase earnings but vary by viewer
- You have full control over timing and intensity
