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YouTube is making its ads on TVs more interactive

To start, people who watch YouTube on TVs will be able to click for more info on an advertised product without interrupting the video they're watching.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials
  • Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)
Joan E. Solsman
2 min read
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YouTube has more than 2 billion monthly visitors. 

Angela Lang/CNET

YouTube commercials are going to become more interactive on connected TVs this year, Google's massive video service said Tuesday. It'll start with a marketing tool that lets viewers get information about an advertised product without interrupting the actual video they want to watch. 

YouTube said this tool for advertisers, called Brand Extensions, would roll out later this year. 

YouTube dropped the news, as it also announced a new slate of original programming, in a presentation to advertisers known as Brandcast. The presentation, which was held virtually for the second year in a row because of the coronavirus pandemic, is part of the so-called Newfronts, a weeklong parade of pitches by digital media companies to drum up advertiser interest.   

During the presentation, YouTube announced a slate of new original programming. And on the ad front, it said this year it will also start letting advertisers buy "seasonal sponsorships," focused on a time of year like Mother's Day or Summer Wellness. 

The new shows coming this year that YouTube announced Tuesday include: 

  • Another program featuring Will Smith, this time an unscripted series chronicling his work to get into the "best shape of his life" in middle age. 
  • An Alicia Keys "performative" docuseries that's described as "breathtaking visual displays of introspection" that resurface defining moments of her past 20 years.  
  • The third season premiere of Liza on Demand, a scripted series with Liza Koshy and her roommates navigating their 20s. 
  • Ice Cold, a docuseries -- with Migos, Kevin "Coach K" Lee and Pierre "P" Thomas as executive producers -- that explores issues of racial inequity in America through "the prism of hip-hop jewelry." 
  • Recipe for Change, focused on Asian American storytellers bringing together celebrities, chefs, activists and creators to celebrate Asian Pacific Islander culture and discuss acts of hate and violence against their community.
  • Barbershop Medicine, a special exploring racial and socioeconomic factors in health care and public health with a focus on COVID-19. 
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