LinkedIn Video Monetization in 2026: In-Stream Ads Explained

LinkedIn video monetization got a second program on October 15, 2026: a US test of In-Stream Ads. Invited creators earn when pre-roll ads run on their native videos, on undisclosed terms.

The same announcement brought a creator dashboard, pinned comments and a Network feed of your connections and the people you follow. It also restated Advice Sessions, the paid consultations that began rolling out to US Premium Business subscribers in May 2026 and now cover Premium All-in-One as well. This guide takes each change from LinkedIn's post, says what is still unknown, and ends with what to post next quarter.

What did LinkedIn change on October 15, 2026?

Seven things in one post titled New ways to build meaningful connections on LinkedIn's newsroom. Five of them matter for video. Where the wording matters, the table quotes LinkedIn.

Change	What it is	Where and when
Creator dashboard	One place for performance, content management and earning opportunities; on mobile, tap your profile picture top-left	Rolling out globally "in the coming weeks"
In-Stream Ads	Eligible creators join from the dashboard and earn revenue "when pre-roll video ads run alongside their eligible video content"	Test with select US creators and advertisers; broader access "planned over time"
Advice Sessions	Paid 1:1 consultations booked from your profile, with payments handled by LinkedIn	US; Premium Business since May 2026, now Premium All-in-One too; more markets "coming soon"
Pinned comments	Authors pin a comment to the top of their post's discussion	Live
Network feed	A dedicated feed of posts from your connections and people you follow	Test in the US, India, UK and Australia

In-Stream Ads and Advice Sessions pay you directly. The Network feed and pinned comments change who sees you. The dashboard is where the first two get switched on.

How do In-Stream Ads monetize your LinkedIn videos?

An advertiser's pre-roll runs before your video and you earn revenue from it. LinkedIn has not published the share, the payout schedule or the eligibility rules. PPC Land's report notes that the FAQ refers to "invited creators participating in the In-Stream Ads test". So entry during the test is by invitation, surfaced in the dashboard. Any percentage quoted elsewhere is a guess.

The program grows out of an idea LinkedIn started in May 2025 as BrandLink, and LinkedIn has not said whether it replaces BrandLink or runs beside it. BrandLink placed short pre-roll ads before videos from publishers and a hand-picked group of about 30 B2B creators. It became self-serve for advertisers in Campaign Manager in March 2026 and never disclosed its revenue share either.

What is new in October 2026 is the entry point. Eligibility shows up in your own dashboard, even if LinkedIn still picks who it invites during the test. Social Media Today describes the advertiser side as reaching relevant creator content without a prior partnership.

What follows from that:

• Your video has to be eligible video content. LinkedIn has not defined that term publicly. Advertisers buying pre-roll want brand-safe, professional, watchable video, so assume the bar is a native video a B2B advertiser would be happy to appear before.
• Native uploads only. A pre-roll can only run on a video LinkedIn hosts. A YouTube link in a post has nothing for an ad to attach to.
• It likely rewards plays over followers. LinkedIn has not said how payouts are calculated, but a pre-roll only runs when the video does. A founder with 4,000 followers whose videos get recommended beyond them has more to monetize than a 40,000-follower account that posts text.

Alongside the creator program, LinkedIn made its CTV ads available through Display & Video 360 on October 22, 2026. An advertiser product, but the same signal. LinkedIn is building video inventory and needs video to sell against.

What do pinned comments and the Network feed change?

They give you back two things the recommendation feed took away. One is control over the discussion under your post. The other is a feed of posts from your connections and the people you follow, with no recommended strangers competing for the slot.

Pinned comments are live now. Social Media Today notes LinkedIn tested them in 2022, shelved them and has brought them back. Use the pin for the one comment that advances the post. That might be a reader's objection you answered well, the link you would otherwise have put in the post itself, or the question you want the next 50 commenters to answer. On a video post, pin a comment with the timestamped summary. It does the job a chapter list does on YouTube.

The Network feed is a test in four markets: the US, India, UK and Australia, per LinkedIn's post. Its FAQ gives a shorter list with an "including" and leaves out the UK. It is a feed with only connections and followed people in it, no recommended posts from strangers. For anyone with a real network, that is a place to be found that the main feed does not offer.

It rewards the habits that built the network in the first place. Post from a personal profile, reply to your connections' posts, write in a voice people chose to follow. A company page benefits only through the people who follow it.

What should a founder or B2B brand post now?

Post native video weekly from a personal profile, keep text posts on the days between, and build each video so it is worth a pre-roll. The video is the asset that earns, the text grows the reach, and the test invites creators, with publishers the only pages LinkedIn mentions.

A weekly pattern that works:

Day	Post	Why
Monday	Native video, 60 to 120 seconds, one lesson from the week	The In-Stream asset; a weekly native video gives the dashboard something to offer against when it turns on
Tuesday	Text post with a strong first line	Reach; LinkedIn hook examples has the openers that work
Wednesday	Carousel or document post	Saves and dwell time; how to build one is in LinkedIn carousel
Thursday	Reply day: 10 thoughtful comments on connections' posts	Feeds the Network feed in both directions
Friday	Second video, or the Monday video cut to 30 seconds	A second native video for the dashboard to offer against; the short cut tests a new opener

Write the video for the advertiser who will buy the pre-roll.

1. Open with the claim. The first line decides whether the viewer stays past the ad they just sat through. Our data in cross-posting video to 7 platforms shows the same clip ranking differently per channel, so write the LinkedIn opener for a professional reader rather than the TikTok one.
2. Captions on, face in frame, no music bed. LinkedIn plays muted in the feed, and auto-captions carry the point. A talking presenter, filmed or an AI actor in your brand's voice, gives the viewer a face to stay with, which B-roll under a voiceover does not.
3. One idea, under two minutes. Keep it to one idea so it gets finished, and a finished video is the one an advertiser wants to run before.

For the text days, SocialFaktory's LinkedIn writer drafts posts in your voice from a one-line brief. That keeps the Tuesday slot filled on weeks when the video took all your time. The length question is answered in how long should a LinkedIn post be.

Advice Sessions: who should turn them on?

Anyone whose posts already produce "can I pick your brain?" messages. Advice Sessions put a price on that conversation and handle the booking and payment on LinkedIn. For now they are limited to US hosts on Premium Business or Premium All-in-One, the two plans LinkedIn's creator post names. Outside the US the preparation is the same. Post the kind of expertise people would pay an hour for, and pin the comment that says how to reach you.

What is still unknown, and what should you not do?

The revenue share, the eligibility criteria, the payout threshold and the timing of access outside the US are all unpublished as of November 8, 2026. Anyone selling a "LinkedIn monetization course" with specific numbers is guessing.

LinkedIn did publish a feed update on March 12, 2026. It brought a new ranking system and less reach for engagement pods, automated comments, recycled thought-leadership posts and videos that have nothing to do with their text. It says nothing about a penalty for external links or a 15 to 90 second window for vertical video, so treat those two claims as folklore until LinkedIn says otherwise.

While you wait:

• Do not re-upload other people's clips with a voiceover to farm plays. Original video is what advertisers buy against, and YouTube and Instagram are already demoting the other kind.
• Do not move your posting to a company page to look more professional. The Network feed and the dashboard are built around people, and the pre-roll test invites creators and runs on creator and publisher videos.
• Do not drop text posts for video. The text grows the network the Network feed shows you to.

Schedule your first video in your own voice, one native upload a week, from the content calendar. Keep the text days around it, so the dashboard has something to find when it turns on for you.

In one sentence: LinkedIn video monetization in late 2026 means pre-roll revenue for invited US creators on native video, on undisclosed terms, so post one original native video a week from a personal profile and keep the text posts around it.