There may be another Twitch controversy coming, and this time it isn't about inappropriate player names, streamers violating the TOS, or high-profile FaZe bans. This upset comes from a new feature that Twitch announced today, mid-roll ads, and many streamers and fans are very unhappy with this news.
The Twitch team has to deal with unhappy customers all the time, whether they're streamers banned for making controversial comments or people upset about technical issues like lagging streams. The Twitch Support official Twitter account's recent announcement that it will be testing automated mid-roll ads for "some viewers" starting today is causing quite a few people to express their disapproval of this feature, especially smaller streamers and those concerned about Twitch's ad creep.
Twitch claims that the ads will "directly support" whoever is running the stream, although many people in the comments have their doubts about the company's intentions, like one commentator whose theory behind this feature is just a gif of Scrooge McDuck counting wads of cash. This move's effect on smaller streamers is also a huge concern for people, as it could prove difficult for people with smaller audiences to gain traction and keep up engagement if portions of their content are being blocked by ads.
The original tweet also says that mid-roll ads won't run if the viewer has just experienced an ad break on that channel, hopefully in an effort to combat ad creep. Some people are skeptical, and one comment brought up that the viewer could miss "something interesting" on the stream while they were being played an ad instead of content. Twitch Support responded that during these ads, the stream will be muted and play in a small window onscreen.
This is understandably very unpopular, as playing mid-roll ads cuts into stream time and even if the video is playing onscreen in a smaller window, it's muted and viewers are missing out on live information and streamers are missing that engagement. Even annoying YouTube ads aren't this egregious, as the video will pause and then continue on. Since Twitch streams are live, mid-roll ads mean viewers either miss some content, or they get behind on the stream.
Seeing as there hasn't been a call for this sort of feature from Twitch streamers, many people are confused about why Twitch would even offer this when both streamers and viewers would be so negatively affected. Hopefully, Twitch takes note of the incredibly massive amount of community feedback it is already receiving toward this feature as it moves forward with its plans.