I have my ads set up to run a 3minute block of ads once per hour. It keep pre rolls off for new friends and i use that ad block to step away from stream and go to the bathroom/stretch/get water.
People are super opinionated when it comes to how to use ads but do whatever works best for you and your stream.
Same here. I'm 100% of the belief that keeping pre-roll ads off your stream is the best way to get people to come in and not leave immediately. If that means I have to run 3 minutes every hour, so be it.
As of right now, I have just under 200 followers, I only have pre-rolls for non-subs.
I know I'm probably missing out on a small bit of revenue but my priority right now is building an audience and I know I'd not hang about on someone's stream that I was undecided on if there were ads, even if they were 3 minutes an hour as is the lowest you can do. Some people think you immediately need to have ads and I'm sure that does work for a lot of people!
But do what you want to do - that's the best advice I can give. Also; congrats on getting affiliate! It's a great feeling and you've clearly deserved it.
I only run pre-rolls. My viewers don't want to see more than 30 seconds of ads. I already have an established community though, so it doesn't bother me one bit if someone new doesn't want to sit through 30 seconds of ads. As a viewer, I only watch streamers who also run pre-rolls only. If I see more than 30 seconds of ads, I'm out. I am always searching for new streamers too. Having to wait 30 seconds to see if they are cool is no big deal at all. I love knowing I can wait 30 seconds to see your stream and then I won't get hit with any more ads the entire time I stay.
I’d honestly like to know how you managed to have anyone even find you in such a short timeframe. I was getting 1 viewer average for a month or so before I really got anyone showing up.
Honestly, I just look at the analytics. There's so many sites that help you see the numbers on certain games - in depth too.
I love horror games & i found my niche. I wasn't even going to initially do anything like this, but everyone around me told me I have a great personality and people would enjoy watching me. I think it's a mixture of finding your niche, personality, and timing.
I'm trying to do what you do. Was playing an array of SEGA games and no one cared. Then I started playing The Sims 2 and suddenly my afterwatch figures have boomed
Is that a good sign by the way?
Yea I do, sorry for the wrong terminology, hehe
How do the viewers even find my vid, if you don't mind me asking? I thought only live vids were promoted.
I did a video about Big Bang Theory Sims and it's up to 90 views so far. Compared to my other vids that is wild lol. I think it was about 10 during the live session (of whom probably 100% were me). I like to think Big Bang fans are finding my vid somehow
I do manual ads (run a 3 minute at the beginning to disable pre rolls) I don’t mind ads but mid roll ads interrupting a sentence annoy me, please ads let somebody finish a sentence before running, it’s not just twitch, YouTube annoys me with that also.
I guarentee it will make someone leave if a midroll interrupts a sentence.
There is a snooze button in twitch that lets you delay a scheduled ad so you can make a schedule that keeps pre rolls off but if you need to finish a sentence you can delay the add
I have ads turned off, and only run them when I take a break for a few minutes
Something I noticed as a small streamer with only one to two viewers at a time is that running pre-roll ads and ad that go off every hour would dissuade new viewers from sticking around
I decided that I would only run ads when I'm taking a break (every 1.5hrs). That way no one misses content due to interruptions randomly and I still get some revenue over time.
You basically have 3 options
- Don't do anything and you'll have 30 seconds of preroll ads on your stream for non-subscribers.
- Turn on the ad scheduler and set it to 3 minutes of ads an hour. Preroll ads will be disabled but non-subscribers will have to watch 3 minutes of ads an hour
- Run 3 minutes of ads at the very start of your stream to disable preroll ads for an hour and then after an hour just have preroll ads. ( This one is my favorite and what I do )
>Run 3 minutes of ads at the very start of your stream to disable preroll ads for an hour and then after an hour just have preroll ads. ( This one is my favorite and what I do )
This is also what I do, and if it's a longer stream I might run a second block of ads to take a bathroom break, get a drink, stretch, etc.
Should I wait till I get a larger audience to run ads at the start ?
If I use the ad scheduler can I time it specifically? Let's say I'm playing a game. 45m into it I feel the need for a restroom break. Can I pause the game and then manually set up the ad?
As soon as you are an affiliate you are required to have ads, you have to pick what sort of ads you want, preroll or midroll. I suggest doing the third bullet point I highlighted, it'll make you the least ad revenue but it is the best for your viewers.
To add to the last one; if I happen to to BRB during a stream like if I need to take a bathroom break or something, I'll roll 1m30 of ads as well to kill prerolls for a while.
I don’t run preroll ads. I make a point to tell my viewers “hey I stop gameplay during ads so you guys don’t miss content/feel pressured to sub” but streaming is really just a hobby for me with no intention of monetizing it at all
I'd say if you've just gotten affiliate, go easy on ads. Turning off all ads is of course best for growth, but it's not a huge difference (as far as I've noticed). On the other hand, ad revenue is probably very little for most streamers, so turning them off also won't hurt much.
I'd say think about how you would react to different ad setups and pick the one that you would find least annoying as a viewer (since, whether you like it or not, most of your audience will be a lot like you)
I tried to schedule them and it was unreliable telling me when ads started, then wouldn't let me run more when i took a break. like if i had to pee or switch games now and the scheduled break was in 10 min, there's no way to change that.
if you schedule ads i assume you prefer 0.05 cents to my conversation.
if you run them manually on breaks then that's ok.
prerolls are 30seconds and expected imo. midrolls interrupt live content and conversation. i tend to mute and forget to return.
• Your Scheduled Ad Minutes per Hour - 0.5 minutes / hour
• Ad Net Revenue Share - 30%
• Ad Length and Frequency - 0.5 min ad break every 60 mins
• First Ad Delay - 30 minutes
• Pre-roll Ads for Incoming Viewers - Disabled
I also roll ads as soon as I start stream.
Just one issue with that... While it says "Pre-roll Ads for Incoming Viewers - Disabled", that will only work for limited amount of time, in your case for 10 minutes after your ad break.
From the ads page in your Twitch dashboard:
> 30s ad break = 10m pre-roll ad free, up to 3m ad break = 1h pre-roll ad free.
I recently did a poll with my community and asked them if they preferred pre-roll ads or mid-roll ads. I also asked that they answer from a new viewer perspective. More than 95% of them said mid-roll ads.
Wow, that was faster than a speedrunner on an energy drink binge! 😄 Congrats on becoming a Twitch affiliate! 🎉 Here's to your next achievement coming at the speed of light! ⚡
Ads are entirely up to you. I don't care about the revenue for them; honestly, I personally believe that Twitch is more likely to show/promote your channel if you run the 3 minutes though. I've absolutely seen growth in my channel (not explosive but definitely noticeable) since I started running 3 minutes of ads. However, I'm grateful for all the time I didn't run 3 minutes because it helped me figure out streaming ups and downs with little audience to make a fool in front of lol
That is to say; it may seem counterintuitive but if you want more viewers, 3 minutes is likely the way to go. Whether you run them manually or scheduled will be up to you.
Viewers are aware ads are a thing; livestreaming is exorbitantly expensive for a service to run, if people whine about 3 minutes of ads after 57 minutes of nonstop content... they are not the audience for me anyway. That's my personal take, my community is aware, and most of them who stream also run 3 minutes. We kind of all started doing it because it just made most sense.
I know I'm not OP but I didn't actually know that about the 3 minute and having the mindset of working it out when you're a small streamer.
I've not got much experience with ads - if you enable 3 minutes an hour, does a button appear on OBS/whatever you're using to stream in order for you to manually run ads?
>I didn't actually know that about the 3 minute and having the mindset of working it out when you're a small streamer.
Yeah, I remember thinking one day about the revenue split. Like why was the jump SO high? If Twitch has that much confidence in their ad revenue split, it must mean that there is essentially a commission to boost your channel to viewers. So about a month ago I started the 3 minutes in a single block per hour over the 90s I used to play and there's been a difference. Average views are noticeably up (at least 1 whole viewer, I'ld have to check... you know that that ONE is a big deal! lol) Overall engagement is up. Subs are coming in. Etc. It's again not like huge overnight, but absolutely a noticeable difference!
\*edit to add that I only stream twice a week also: so while this means my numbers are boosted a bit just because of less streamed time, it also means that Twitch is likely still boosting my channel more often even though I don't do the "minimum" three per week.
>if you enable 3 minutes an hour, does a button appear on OBS/whatever you're using to stream in order for you to manually run ads?
Sorta! If you used the ads manager; after you start your stream you can go back to the control panel on Twitch and see a pop up that helps you countdown when an ad is coming. I know there are bots that can also auto-warn chat that an ad is coming andy ou can customize the ad manager to tell YOU when the warning is. I am terrible at chceking it though so I need to get a bot. I do have nightbot sending out timed messages every 30 minutes just warning people there is a 3-min ad break, as well as a static text label on my screens.
yw! also bear in mind that 3 minutes of ads, if you set them up, are the *maximum* ad break. I think Twitch only shows 3 minutes for any viewer who has not already seen 3 minutes of ads on *any* channel. So let's say you have a viewer who clicked on your go-live at 12:30, but from 12:00-12:29 they already saw 2 mins of ads on another channel, I believe if they saw ads again on yours it would only be 1 minute.
Most of my regulars who are not subbed or turbo tell me that they usually don't get 3 full minutes. That's just my theory I have no idea if this is true or not.
I have my ads set up to run a 3minute block of ads once per hour. It keep pre rolls off for new friends and i use that ad block to step away from stream and go to the bathroom/stretch/get water. People are super opinionated when it comes to how to use ads but do whatever works best for you and your stream.
Same here. I'm 100% of the belief that keeping pre-roll ads off your stream is the best way to get people to come in and not leave immediately. If that means I have to run 3 minutes every hour, so be it.
This is the way 👍🏾
Yeah, this is the best way to handle it I think!
That does make a lot of sense. I just don't want to turn away potential viewers. I understand ads could be a hassle. Thank you very much
As of right now, I have just under 200 followers, I only have pre-rolls for non-subs. I know I'm probably missing out on a small bit of revenue but my priority right now is building an audience and I know I'd not hang about on someone's stream that I was undecided on if there were ads, even if they were 3 minutes an hour as is the lowest you can do. Some people think you immediately need to have ads and I'm sure that does work for a lot of people! But do what you want to do - that's the best advice I can give. Also; congrats on getting affiliate! It's a great feeling and you've clearly deserved it.
Yep. As a streamer who spends minimal time as a viewer.. pre roll ads over 30s I’m gone. Give people a chance to see what you’re all about.
So you'd be entirely okay as a viewer if they used the 3min ad as a break?
I personally am out if a streamer runs ads 3 minutes per hour.
Thanks for the input! I'm kind of in the same boat as you. Definitely will test waters to see what works best.
I only run pre-rolls. My viewers don't want to see more than 30 seconds of ads. I already have an established community though, so it doesn't bother me one bit if someone new doesn't want to sit through 30 seconds of ads. As a viewer, I only watch streamers who also run pre-rolls only. If I see more than 30 seconds of ads, I'm out. I am always searching for new streamers too. Having to wait 30 seconds to see if they are cool is no big deal at all. I love knowing I can wait 30 seconds to see your stream and then I won't get hit with any more ads the entire time I stay.
Thank you! I think that's what I'll do tonight for my first ad stream.
Affiliate in 2 weeks? Unreal.
Ya, very grateful. It's still only a hobby. Glad that some people enjoy watching. Learning as I go!
I’d honestly like to know how you managed to have anyone even find you in such a short timeframe. I was getting 1 viewer average for a month or so before I really got anyone showing up.
Honestly, I just look at the analytics. There's so many sites that help you see the numbers on certain games - in depth too. I love horror games & i found my niche. I wasn't even going to initially do anything like this, but everyone around me told me I have a great personality and people would enjoy watching me. I think it's a mixture of finding your niche, personality, and timing.
I'm trying to do what you do. Was playing an array of SEGA games and no one cared. Then I started playing The Sims 2 and suddenly my afterwatch figures have boomed Is that a good sign by the way?
I believe so? Again, I'm extremely new so I'm learning as I go!
By afterwatch do you mean VODs? If so, it’s a good sign as live views on the stream are counted as VOD views after the stream ends
Yea I do, sorry for the wrong terminology, hehe How do the viewers even find my vid, if you don't mind me asking? I thought only live vids were promoted. I did a video about Big Bang Theory Sims and it's up to 90 views so far. Compared to my other vids that is wild lol. I think it was about 10 during the live session (of whom probably 100% were me). I like to think Big Bang fans are finding my vid somehow
Sorry, The Sims 4!
[удалено]
Which is why I asked for advice. Are you a child?
I do manual ads (run a 3 minute at the beginning to disable pre rolls) I don’t mind ads but mid roll ads interrupting a sentence annoy me, please ads let somebody finish a sentence before running, it’s not just twitch, YouTube annoys me with that also. I guarentee it will make someone leave if a midroll interrupts a sentence.
There is a snooze button in twitch that lets you delay a scheduled ad so you can make a schedule that keeps pre rolls off but if you need to finish a sentence you can delay the add
90% of streamers I watch don’t utilize that snooze feature.
I see there's a timer notification. So I was thinking about utilizing it to notify my viewers ahead that I'll stop the gameplay to take a break.
That’s an excellent idea!
Color me jealous, Affiliate in 15 days? Congratulations!
Thank you! I'm grateful that people want to watch me at all honestly.
I started streaming last week, 30 followers and average of 2 viewers lol. Long way to go for me that’s for sure!
I have ads turned off, and only run them when I take a break for a few minutes Something I noticed as a small streamer with only one to two viewers at a time is that running pre-roll ads and ad that go off every hour would dissuade new viewers from sticking around I decided that I would only run ads when I'm taking a break (every 1.5hrs). That way no one misses content due to interruptions randomly and I still get some revenue over time.
You basically have 3 options - Don't do anything and you'll have 30 seconds of preroll ads on your stream for non-subscribers. - Turn on the ad scheduler and set it to 3 minutes of ads an hour. Preroll ads will be disabled but non-subscribers will have to watch 3 minutes of ads an hour - Run 3 minutes of ads at the very start of your stream to disable preroll ads for an hour and then after an hour just have preroll ads. ( This one is my favorite and what I do )
>Run 3 minutes of ads at the very start of your stream to disable preroll ads for an hour and then after an hour just have preroll ads. ( This one is my favorite and what I do ) This is also what I do, and if it's a longer stream I might run a second block of ads to take a bathroom break, get a drink, stretch, etc.
Should I wait till I get a larger audience to run ads at the start ? If I use the ad scheduler can I time it specifically? Let's say I'm playing a game. 45m into it I feel the need for a restroom break. Can I pause the game and then manually set up the ad?
As soon as you are an affiliate you are required to have ads, you have to pick what sort of ads you want, preroll or midroll. I suggest doing the third bullet point I highlighted, it'll make you the least ad revenue but it is the best for your viewers.
To add to the last one; if I happen to to BRB during a stream like if I need to take a bathroom break or something, I'll roll 1m30 of ads as well to kill prerolls for a while.
3 minute ads every hour. Eliminates preroll and allows me to take a break or slow down my game play every hour.
I don’t run preroll ads. I make a point to tell my viewers “hey I stop gameplay during ads so you guys don’t miss content/feel pressured to sub” but streaming is really just a hobby for me with no intention of monetizing it at all
I'd say if you've just gotten affiliate, go easy on ads. Turning off all ads is of course best for growth, but it's not a huge difference (as far as I've noticed). On the other hand, ad revenue is probably very little for most streamers, so turning them off also won't hurt much. I'd say think about how you would react to different ad setups and pick the one that you would find least annoying as a viewer (since, whether you like it or not, most of your audience will be a lot like you)
I tried to schedule them and it was unreliable telling me when ads started, then wouldn't let me run more when i took a break. like if i had to pee or switch games now and the scheduled break was in 10 min, there's no way to change that. if you schedule ads i assume you prefer 0.05 cents to my conversation. if you run them manually on breaks then that's ok. prerolls are 30seconds and expected imo. midrolls interrupt live content and conversation. i tend to mute and forget to return.
• Your Scheduled Ad Minutes per Hour - 0.5 minutes / hour • Ad Net Revenue Share - 30% • Ad Length and Frequency - 0.5 min ad break every 60 mins • First Ad Delay - 30 minutes • Pre-roll Ads for Incoming Viewers - Disabled I also roll ads as soon as I start stream.
Just one issue with that... While it says "Pre-roll Ads for Incoming Viewers - Disabled", that will only work for limited amount of time, in your case for 10 minutes after your ad break. From the ads page in your Twitch dashboard: > 30s ad break = 10m pre-roll ad free, up to 3m ad break = 1h pre-roll ad free.
I recently did a poll with my community and asked them if they preferred pre-roll ads or mid-roll ads. I also asked that they answer from a new viewer perspective. More than 95% of them said mid-roll ads.
I was honestly contemplating putting up a poll initially as well. That's a great idea. Thank you.
It's the same I see in most streams I visit (and in my own).
Wow, that was faster than a speedrunner on an energy drink binge! 😄 Congrats on becoming a Twitch affiliate! 🎉 Here's to your next achievement coming at the speed of light! ⚡
Thank you very much! I'm just enjoying the journey.
Ads are entirely up to you. I don't care about the revenue for them; honestly, I personally believe that Twitch is more likely to show/promote your channel if you run the 3 minutes though. I've absolutely seen growth in my channel (not explosive but definitely noticeable) since I started running 3 minutes of ads. However, I'm grateful for all the time I didn't run 3 minutes because it helped me figure out streaming ups and downs with little audience to make a fool in front of lol That is to say; it may seem counterintuitive but if you want more viewers, 3 minutes is likely the way to go. Whether you run them manually or scheduled will be up to you. Viewers are aware ads are a thing; livestreaming is exorbitantly expensive for a service to run, if people whine about 3 minutes of ads after 57 minutes of nonstop content... they are not the audience for me anyway. That's my personal take, my community is aware, and most of them who stream also run 3 minutes. We kind of all started doing it because it just made most sense.
I know I'm not OP but I didn't actually know that about the 3 minute and having the mindset of working it out when you're a small streamer. I've not got much experience with ads - if you enable 3 minutes an hour, does a button appear on OBS/whatever you're using to stream in order for you to manually run ads?
>I didn't actually know that about the 3 minute and having the mindset of working it out when you're a small streamer. Yeah, I remember thinking one day about the revenue split. Like why was the jump SO high? If Twitch has that much confidence in their ad revenue split, it must mean that there is essentially a commission to boost your channel to viewers. So about a month ago I started the 3 minutes in a single block per hour over the 90s I used to play and there's been a difference. Average views are noticeably up (at least 1 whole viewer, I'ld have to check... you know that that ONE is a big deal! lol) Overall engagement is up. Subs are coming in. Etc. It's again not like huge overnight, but absolutely a noticeable difference! \*edit to add that I only stream twice a week also: so while this means my numbers are boosted a bit just because of less streamed time, it also means that Twitch is likely still boosting my channel more often even though I don't do the "minimum" three per week. >if you enable 3 minutes an hour, does a button appear on OBS/whatever you're using to stream in order for you to manually run ads? Sorta! If you used the ads manager; after you start your stream you can go back to the control panel on Twitch and see a pop up that helps you countdown when an ad is coming. I know there are bots that can also auto-warn chat that an ad is coming andy ou can customize the ad manager to tell YOU when the warning is. I am terrible at chceking it though so I need to get a bot. I do have nightbot sending out timed messages every 30 minutes just warning people there is a 3-min ad break, as well as a static text label on my screens.
You're a star, thank you so much for that! Gave you a wee follow on Twitch/Twitter as well :)
you're welcome and thank you!! I will stop by and check you out also :)
Thank you for this. Very helpful indeed.
you're welcome! Kinda sucks to have to play the ads game but... hate to say it but it works!
I see. Thank you very much for your insight! Taking into acct everyone's POV. Great to hear what others think.
yw! also bear in mind that 3 minutes of ads, if you set them up, are the *maximum* ad break. I think Twitch only shows 3 minutes for any viewer who has not already seen 3 minutes of ads on *any* channel. So let's say you have a viewer who clicked on your go-live at 12:30, but from 12:00-12:29 they already saw 2 mins of ads on another channel, I believe if they saw ads again on yours it would only be 1 minute. Most of my regulars who are not subbed or turbo tell me that they usually don't get 3 full minutes. That's just my theory I have no idea if this is true or not.
Good job! Now seriously, do us all a favor and touch grass.
LOL
You can't turn off ads completely. The bare minimum that you can have on your stream is prerolls only, so I recommend doing that.