YouTube announces Gemini AI feature to target ads when viewers are most engaged
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People walk by a YouTube logo as Google celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first video uploaded to YouTube, at the company’s corporate headquarters in San Bruno, California, on April 23, 2025.
Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images
YouTube on Wednesday announced a new tool that will allow advertisers to use Google’s Gemini AI model to target ads to viewers when they are most engaged with a video.
The artificial intelligence feature, called “Peak Points,” identifies times when videos receive elevated levels of viewer attention and packages ads to be placed after those moments. Peak Points has the potential to enable more impressions and a higher click-through rate on YouTube, a primary metric that determines how creators earn money on the video platform.
Peak Points uses Google’s Gemini AI to find the most engaged moment to place an ad.
YouTube
YouTube said the AI model is trained by analyzing video elements such as frames and transcripts. Peak Points is currently in a pilot program and will be rolling out over the rest of the year.
The video service announced Peak Points at its YouTube Brandcast event in New York. Besides Peak Points, YouTube made other announcements geared toward advertisers. With Peak Points, Google is taking another step in monetizing AI at a time when many in Silicon Valley are prioritizing products over safety.
