Videos are the most engaging content that a brand can release to promote their company. Videos have the visual element that makes photos so exciting, but watching gets the audience to spend more time with the content. And watching a video takes less effort from the viewer than reading an article online. It’s easy to see why brands spend so much time and energy on creating good video content. The only thing better than video content is live video content. Last week, Google introduced a new ad format that will make it easier for channels on YouTube to promote their live videos.

Audiences like watching live videos because it allows them to be a part of the experience. They see the creator as they make the content, and they can engage with the creator through live chats. Businesses have used live videos to do product demonstrations, host Q&A sessions, and more. When done correctly, live videos will offer increased engagement in exchange for production value.

The problem with live video is that you need people to watch while the video is being recorded. You can rebroadcast the live video later, but if you want the video to feature audience engagement, you need people there at the right time. It’s easy for people to have missed information about the live event or to forget to tune in when the time comes. Google’s new display ad option can help YouTube publishers get a larger audience for their live stream.

In a post announcing several updates to Google Ad, the company wrote, “The new live stream format in Display & Video 360 allows you to run your YouTube live stream content in display ads across screens and devices. You can quickly get started by using assets from your existing YouTube live stream campaigns with a new template in Google Web Designer.”

A business that wants to host a live stream on YouTube can ensure they get the largest audience possible by using these ad formats once they become available. Live streaming on YouTube is free, so companies are just paying for the advertising, which means this tactic can be a cost-effective solution for improved video marketing.

The ad format will give the person watching the preview many options for engaging with the content while it’s in ad form. As Google explained, “With the live stream format people will be able to interact with the video using familiar YouTube player controls. People can preview your live stream, watch full screen, and exit when they’re done, giving them full control over how they interact with your content.”

According to media reports, these ads are still in the beta phase, and there is no confirmed launch window for when it will become available to everyone. Additionally, live stream ads can appear anywhere Google’s display ads are shown.

The feature is too useful for promoting live streams for Google to abandon it completely, so business owners should expect the option to become widely available eventually. It seems likely that there will be some restriction on which YouTube pages and Google Ad accounts would have access to the ability to promote live stream video. Live video can be abused to showcase content that wouldn’t be allowed in typical ads.

For more recent news about Google and YouTube, read this article about a test someone noticed where Google was putting video timestamps onto YouTube search results.