Where should I put mid-roll ads in a YouTube video?
Put each mid-roll at a natural break, such as a pause in the voice, the end of a segment or a change of scene, and never in the middle of a sentence or an action: YouTube Help says slots like those are less likely to serve an ad at all. The video must be monetized and 8 minutes or longer. In a July 2024 YouTube test, channels that added automatic slots to their manual ones earned over 5% more YouTube ad revenue on average than channels using manual slots only.
The steps at a glance
Where the breaks go is an editing decision as much as a YouTube Studio setting. The order that works:
- Check that the video can carry mid-rolls.
- Choose automatic slots, manual slots or both.
- Plan the breaks while you edit.
- Find the pauses in the finished file.
- Decide how many breaks the video can hold.
- Add the slots in YouTube Studio.
- Move any slot Studio marks in red.
- Check retention around each break after publishing.
Written by Kevin Tabares, long-form YouTube editor since 2015: 1,277 videos and 152.2M+ views tracked on YT Jobs.
98% of the 1,159 long-form client videos tracked on my YT Jobs profile run 8 minutes or longer, the length where mid-rolls start. I built the free placement finder this guide uses because finding every sentence ending in a long edit by ear takes a while.
Step 1: Check that the video can carry mid-rolls
YouTube Help (Using mid-roll ads, read October 20, 2026) sets two conditions: the video is monetized, and it is 8 minutes or longer. YouTube’s ad formats page words the rule as “longer than 8 minutes”, so if an edit lands on 8:00 exactly, add a few seconds.
- Under 8 minutes, a monetized video still gets ads before and after it. The ad formats page adds Watch While ads, shown next to the video on mobile, on monetizing videos between 2 and 8 minutes.
- Shorts take no mid-rolls: their ads play between Shorts in the feed. Eligible live streams can carry them.
Don’t pad a short idea to reach the line; a break that arrives after the audience has left earns nothing. Length itself is covered in how long a YouTube video should be.
Step 2: Choose automatic slots, manual slots or both
| Setup | How it works | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic | YouTube looks for natural visual or audio breaks. Selected by default once mid-rolls are on. | Videos you won’t place by hand |
| Manual | You choose where an ad may run; YouTube still decides which slots get one. | Scripted videos, chapters, act breaks |
| Both | Automatic slots are added on top of manual ones unless you uncheck “Automatic ad slots”. | Most long videos |
YouTube pushes the third option. In a YouTube Help Community post dated February 24, 2025, TeamYouTube said that from May 12, 2025 it would show more mid-rolls at natural break points and fewer where they feel interruptive, like the middle of a sentence or an action sequence. It reported a July 2024 experiment in which channels with automatic slots on top of manual ones saw an average of over 5% more YouTube ad revenue than manual-only channels, and warned that manual slots at interruptive points, such as one every minute placed without checking for pauses, may earn less. Older videos with manual mid-rolls, uploaded before February 24, 2025, were set to receive automatic slots as well, with an opt out in the Earn tab of YouTube Studio.
Step 3: Plan the breaks while you edit
The best break is one the edit already has. YouTube Help says slots placed where the video naturally breaks, at a pause in the sound or a visual transition, are more likely to serve ads, because its systems generally find higher retention there. Good spots:
- The end of a segment or chapter, before the next topic starts.
- Right after a payoff: the result of a challenge, the end of a round, the answer the segment promised.
- A scene change, or the point where a narrator ends a section and the music changes.
Keep breaks out of the hook, out of any sentence or joke still running, and out of fights, chases, scare build ups and tutorial steps. Calm content deserves a second thought: YouTube Help gives meditation videos as an example that may not suit mid-rolls at all.
Mark candidates as you cut, with timeline markers in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve, or a list of times in any editor. A marker shows timeline timecode; the free timecode calculator turns one like 01:04:12:10, on a timeline that starts at 01:00:00:00, into the YouTube time stamp 4:12, counted from the start of the video. Chapter starts are natural candidates (see how to add chapters). Where one segment runs into the next on the same breath, leave a beat, a breath or the end of a music cue, so there is a real pause to break on.
Step 4: Find the pauses in the finished file
The free mid-roll ad placement finder does the listening. Choose the finished video or its audio (MP4, MOV, WEBM, MP3, WAV or M4A, up to 60 minutes) and how often you want a break, from about every 2 minutes to every 10. It measures the level every 10 milliseconds, marks every pause of a quarter second or more, and in each stretch picks the longest one (anything over 3 seconds counts the same), preferring the shape of a sentence ending and using an unusually long silence only when the stretch has nothing else. It skips the first and last minute, warns you if the video is under 8:00, says so when a stretch has no pause at all instead of forcing one, and marks very short pauses and unusually long silences so you listen first. Listen to the 3 seconds before and after each suggestion, then copy the times or download a CSV. Nothing is uploaded.
It hears pauses, not meaning or pictures, so a dramatic pause mid-thought or a quiet beat inside an action scene can still fool it. If the edit has long empty stretches, cut them first with the silence detector (method in how to fix dead air), since every cut moves the times after it.
Step 5: Decide how many breaks the video can hold
YouTube Help gives no number. The mid-roll page sets no maximum and no minimum gap, and no slot is guaranteed an ad: the ad systems weigh slot quality, advertiser demand and viewer experience. Ads can also come in pairs: the ad formats page says two video ads can play back to back on long-form videos of at least 5 minutes. For scale, AIR Media-Tech, analysing 300 channels from May 2025 to May 2026, found the median monetized view carried about 1.55 ads, and noted that a ten minute video can hold multiple mid-rolls while an eight minute one struggles to hold one.
So count good pauses, not slots. A starting point, which is my suggestion and not a YouTube rule:
| Video length | Where to start |
|---|---|
| 8 to 10 minutes | One break, at the cleanest pause near the middle |
| 10 to 20 minutes | One break at each segment boundary, with automatic slots on to fill gaps |
| Over 20 minutes | A break at each chapter or act change; the quality of each pause matters more than even spacing |
Extra slots at weak pauses add no ads. Studio flags them, as Step 7 shows.
Step 6: Add the slots in YouTube Studio
These steps come from YouTube Help, read October 20, 2026. Slots are managed in YouTube Studio on a computer; the mobile app only turns mid-rolls on or off.
- In YouTube Studio, select Content, choose the video, then Monetization, and turn monetization on if it isn’t.
- Check “Show mid-roll ads during my video”, then click Continue and Save.
- Select MANAGE AD SLOTS, then INSERT AD SLOT, and type the time where each break begins, or drag the vertical bar there. Delete removes a slot.
- Click Continue, then Save.
On a new upload, set Ads & YouTube Premium to ON under Monetization first. Uncheck “Automatic ad slots” only if you want your own breaks alone. For future uploads, Settings, Upload defaults, Monetization has “Show mid-roll ads during my videos” under Ad preferences; for older videos in bulk, the ad formats page describes selecting them in Content, then Edit, Ad settings and “Place ads during video (mid-roll)”. Your editor can plan the breaks without channel access, since a list of times or the finder’s CSV is enough; if you want them to add the slots too, see how to give your editor access.
Step 7: Move any slot Studio marks in red
After you save, Studio shows in red the manual slots unlikely to serve ads. Drag each one, or edit its timestamp, to the nearest clean pause. YouTube Help says the first feedback generally arrives within an hour of processing, longer on long videos, and later changes are rechecked within minutes. If automatic slots found nothing, add manual ones and leave automatic on, because YouTube’s systems keep looking.
Step 8: Check retention around each break after publishing
A few days after publishing, open the retention graph at each break time. A sharp drop right at a break means viewers left there: move that slot, and check whether the segment before it ended weakly. Reading the graph is covered in YouTube audience retention explained.
How I handle ad breaks on client videos
Most of what I edit clears the length bar easily: the 1,159 long-form client videos on my YT Jobs profile have a median of 12.1 minutes. On scripted skits I note the timecode of each act break so the ads fall between scenes, never in the middle of a line (scripted skit channels). Finding those pauses by ear in a long edit is the slow part, and it is what the finder takes over: on a 13 minute documentary narration I checked against its script, the 7 spacings from 2 to 10 minutes gave 15 suggestions at 5 different times, and all 5 fell in a real silence between two paragraphs. For an editor who plans the breaks along with the cut, see long-form editing.
Common mid-roll mistakes
- Slots placed by the clock. TeamYouTube called out one a minute placed without checking for pauses.
- A break inside the hook. The opening is still winning the viewer over.
- Breaks set before the cut is locked. Every later trim shifts the times behind it.
- Ignoring red slots. They rarely show an ad.
Mid-roll ads FAQ
How long does a YouTube video need to be for mid-roll ads?
YouTube Help says monetized videos that are 8 minutes or longer can carry mid-roll ads, and its ad formats page says longer than 8 minutes, so a few seconds past 8:00 is the safe length. Shorter monetized videos still get ads before and after the video.
How many mid-roll ads should I put in a YouTube video?
YouTube sets no number. Place one slot at each natural break, keep automatic slots on and move any slot YouTube Studio marks in red. AIR Media-Tech, looking at 300 channels, notes that a ten minute video can hold multiple mid-rolls while an eight minute one struggles to hold one.
Should I use automatic or manual mid-roll ads?
Usually both: place manual slots at your best pauses and leave automatic slots on. In a July 2024 experiment reported by TeamYouTube, channels running both saw an average of over 5% more YouTube ad revenue than channels with manual mid-rolls only.
Why are my mid-roll ad slots red in YouTube Studio?
Red means YouTube judged the slot unlikely to serve an ad, usually because it interrupts speech or action. Move it to a pause in the sound or a cut between scenes; changes are rechecked within minutes.
Can YouTube Shorts have mid-roll ads?
No. YouTube Help says ads on Shorts appear between Shorts in the Shorts feed, not inside a Short. Mid-rolls are for monetized videos of 8 minutes or more and for eligible live streams.
Do mid-roll ads hurt audience retention?
A badly placed one can. YouTube Help says its systems generally find higher viewer retention at natural breakpoints, and TeamYouTube says reducing interruptive ad breaks can help keep more viewers watching. Check the retention graph at each break after publishing.
Sources
Eligibility, slot types, natural breakpoints, Studio steps, channel default, red slot feedback and the meditation example: YouTube Help, Using mid-roll ads on YouTube. “Longer than 8 minutes”, Watch While, Shorts and back to back ads, bulk edit: YouTube Help, YouTube advertising formats. The May 12, 2025 change, the July 2024 experiment, fixed intervals and older videos: TeamYouTube, Updates to mid-roll ads for creators on YouTube (YouTube Help Community, February 24, 2025). Ads per monetized view: AIR Media-Tech, How much does YouTube really pay in 2026 (updated July 1, 2026). All read October 20, 2026. The finder’s method and the 13 minute check: the placement finder page. My video lengths: the Q4 upload plan. The Step 5 table is my suggestion, not a measurement.