Twitch Affiliate Ads: Complete Guide - StreamScheme

Running ads on Twitch is one of the most passive ways to earn money as a streamer, but it’s also one of the easiest ways to accidentally hurt your growth.

If you’ve ever clicked into a small streamer and got hit with a 30-second pre-roll ad before you even saw their content… you already understand the problem.

This guide breaks down how Twitch Affiliate ads work in 2026, how to earn from them, and how to make ads feel less painful for viewers (without turning your stream into a constant commercial break).

Quick Summary (For Most Streamers)

If you want the simple version:

Your job is to control when ads happen, not pretend you can remove them entirely

Yes, Twitch Affiliates can run ads (and ads will run on affiliate channels)

Pre-roll ads are the #1 growth killer for small channels

If you run 3 minutes of ads per hour, Twitch lets you disable pre-rolls and unlock up to 55% net ad revenue share

Can Twitch Affiliates Run Ads?

Yes — Affiliates have the ability to run ads and earn revenue from all video ads shown while broadcasting live on their channel. Running ads are required for all affiliates and partners, and these will either be played automatically, or run manually by creators during natural breaks in their streams.

How Twitch Affiliate Ads Work in 2026

1) The 3 main ad types viewers will see

Pre-roll adsThese play when someone first clicks into your stream.

This is why pre-rolls matter so much: new viewers haven’t bought into you yet, so they bounce fast if they hit an ad immediately.

Mid-roll adsThese run while someone is already watching (manual or scheduled).

Mid-rolls are annoying, but they’re usually less damaging than pre-rolls if you place them during a dead moment.

“Picture-by-picture” style ads (viewer stays on your stream)Twitch has been moving toward ad formats where the viewer can still see the stream while the ad plays.(They’re still not “fun”, but they’re less brutal than a full stream interruption.)

2) How you actually earn from Twitch ads

Twitch ads aren’t a fixed-rate “$X per ad” system.

Your earnings depend on things like:

• your audience location
• how many ads are being bought in that region
• seasonality (Q4 is usually stronger)
• ad format + fill rate

The biggest lever you control is how you run ads, because Twitch has explicitly tied better revenue share to consistent ad time:

✅ Run at least 3 minutes of ads per hour → unlock up to 55% net ad revenue share

This is one of the most important updates from the last few years because it turned ads into something streamers can actually “tune” instead of just suffering through.

3) Do subscribers still see ads?

By default, your subs usually get an ad-free experience — but you can configure ad behaviour (and promos) inside your dashboard.

The important part is this:

Ads mainly

How to Run an Ad as a Twitch Affiliate

1. Step 1

   Go to your Creator Dashboard.

2. Step 2

   

   On the right-hand side of your window, you’ll see quick actions. While live streaming, you can click on the “Run Ad Break” button.

   Keep in mind, for every 30 seconds of the ad played, pre-roll ads will be disabled for 10 minutes. So a 60-second ad will mean 20 minutes free of pre-rolls, and so on and so forth.

   

   Bonus: You can click the “+” button to add additional quick actions to your dashboard. This includes video ad breaks starting at 30 seconds, and increasing at 30-second intervals all the way up to 3 minutes.

   

   Extra Special Bonus: If you own an Elgato Stream Deck, you can add the ad breaks right into the deck for quick and easy access.

How to Disable Pre-Roll Ads on Your Channel

All Twitch Partners and Affiliates have the option to disable pre-roll ads by running regular ad breaks.

Working scheduled ads breaks into your stream may feel a bit strange at first, but it will honestly give you a lot more control over your stream. Provided you follow through with running your own ads on a consistent basis, this will guarantee that newcomers will not receive an ad upon their arrival into your stream.

If you want to disable pre-roll ads in your settings:

Creator Dashboard > Settings > Affiliate/Partner > Ads

What Are Stream Display Ads?

Stream Display Ads (or SDAs for short) are Twitch’s newest form of experimental ads, with a goal of making the ads during streams less disruptive. During a display ad, the stream will scale down and shift upwards towards the top of the screen to make room for a small ad to appear on the screen for 10 seconds. Viewers will still be able to see and hear the stream while the ad is visible.

A minimum of 3 ads per hour will be shown, with a max of 8 per hour. This number will likely fluctuate as Twitch collects more data on these new ads.

Stream display ads will earn creators the same rate as their video ads, but they will not contribute to reducing pre-rolls at this time. Unlike pre-roll ads, eligible streamers have the ability to disable Stream Display Ads on their channel by following this path: Creator Dashboard > Settings > Affiliate/Partner > Ads

Frequently Asked Questions

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  How Much Do You Earn By Running Advertisements?

  

  Currently, all ad revenue is set to earn creators $3.50 USD CPM regardless of location. The rates are presented by the country of the Twitch users that views the advertisement, not from the location that they were running from.

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  What is CPM?

  Cost Per Mille, also known as Cost Per Thousand, is a term used to value the cost of 1,000 advertisement impressions on one web page. Since Twitch ad revenue pays out at $3.50 USD CPM, this means that the creator will earn roughly .0035 cents for every view. This also means that you earn depending on how many viewers say the affiliate ads.

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  Can I Enable Ads for Every Viewer?

  If you want to push ads onto everyone to really squeeze out that extra little bit of revenue, you can. Though I strongly recommend against doing this, as this will absolutely lessen the value a subscription to your channel holds compared to others. Ad-free experiences are a huge benefit to subbing for a streamer.

  To get to these in your settings:

  

  Creator Dashboard > Settings > Affiliate/Partner > Subscriptions

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  What is Picture by Picture on Twitch?

  Picture-by-picture is a feature across all channels allowing viewers can still watch the stream in a smaller window during an ad break. Previously, this feature was limited to only gaming categories but has since opened up to every category. (This does not include pre-roll ads).

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  What’s the Difference Between Pre-Roll and Mid-Roll Ads?

  Pre-roll ads are seen by Twitch viewers before your live stream starts. On the other hand, mid-roll ad breaks are played and seen in the middle of your stream.

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  How Long Do the Ads Run?

  Ads can be as short as 30 seconds or as long as three minutes.

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  Who Sees Ads on Twitch?

  Unfortunately, if you are watching a partnered or affiliated streamer, you will be subjected to watching ads at one point or another. The only way a channel will not have ads is if you are currently subscribed or if it happens to be neither a partner nor an affiliate account, as required ad breaks are written into the onboarding contracts.

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  How to Avoid Ads on Twitch?

  For $8.99 USD a month, you can purchase Twitch Turbo, which covers you all throughout the platform. A subscription to Turbo means you will get to experience ad-free viewing. (with limited exceptions) Even in channels that you are not subscribed to, there will be no pre-roll, mid-roll, companion, or display ads. However, you may still be shown promotions and ads that are embedded into a broadcast or, on rare occasions, delivered with certain simulcast content.

  You’ll also receive an exclusive Twitch Turbo chat badge, access to additional emotes, and custom username colors, and it will also extend your broadcast storage to 60 days, instead of the standard 14 days.

The Best Way To Think About Twitch Ads

Ads aren’t “extra money”.

They’re a trade:

• you either let Twitch control ads (and your viewers suffer random pre-rolls)
• or you take control of ad timing so your stream feels smoother

If you’re a new Affiliate trying to grow, the goal is simple:

✅ Run ads intentionally so first-time viewers can actually watch you immediately.

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