YouTube is launching a Gemini AI feature to target ads to viewers at peak engagement.
The Google platform has unveiled plans for the new artificial intelligence tool – which is known as ‘Peak Points’ – to identify when videos have people’s attention the most, and then package ads to follow them.
The update was announced at the YouTube Brandcast event in New York as the company uses Gemini to analyze videos and finds the key moments of engagement.
This will allow advertisers to get eyes on their product or service at the exact moment people are expected to be most invested.
This is a similar tactic to emotion-based targeting, which sees ads placed in line with emotions evoked by a certain video.
YouTube explained that the AI model itself analyses certain elements of the video, like frames and transcripts, to find the sweet spot.
As it stands, Peak Pilots is in a pilot program, with plans for a roll out over the rest of 2025.
