Twitch is testing ‘less interruptive’ ad experience following backlash over intrusive ads

If there’s one thing Twitch streamers and viewers agree on, it’s that the Amazon-owned platforms’ approach to ads needs improvement because it’s too frequent and intrusive in its current state.

Asmongold, who has been the most vocal streamer on the matter, described them as “cannibalistic” and seems convinced, if nothing changes, it’ll be the reason Twitch loses to YouTube.

Recently, Pokimane came up with a solution. She said Twitch should implement ads in a way that doesn’t interfere with the viewer experience, saying that while they’re essential, they shouldn’t be at the expense of user enjoyment.

Twitch apparently took her advice on board, because now they’re testing a new approach that does exactly that. “We are doing an experiment right now with Stream Display Ads!” they said in response to a thread about it on Twitch Uservoice.

“These are less disruptive ads that allow viewers to see and hear Creators while being displayed. Creators will receive ad revenue for each SDA shown.”

Twitch followed it up with a post on Twitter, confirming the experiment is officially underway and rolling out in stages over the next few weeks. They also showed how it will work and look.

So far, the response from the community has been positive. One fan said non-interruptive ads are the best kind of ads, and they’d be happy if all of them became like that moving forward. Another fan added it would make for a much better viewer experience, which—in the end—is as important, if not more important, than letting advertisers run ads.

Others, however, pointed out, while it sounds good in theory, it doesn’t seem all that different in practice. So, it seems like the jury is still out on whether it’ll actually fix the issue.

Twitch has been experimenting with other ways, too. But if this change lives up to the hype, it could be the best one yet.