5 YouTube video ad formats & placements

In our last update, we covered 12 Google Display & Demand Gen ad formats & placements.

Now, we’re turning our focus to YouTube video ad formats & placements. To start, it’s important to grasp the different campaign objectives that can be set for video ads on YouTube.

• Video Views: Get views and engagement from people who are more likely to consider your products or brand. You only pay when someone chooses to watch your ad. Your ads can show as skippable in-stream, in-feed, and Shorts ads. Learn more
• Efficient Reach: Get the most reach for your budget using bumper, skippable in-stream, in-feed, and Shorts ads. Learn more
• Target Frequency: Reach the same people more than once with skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads, or bumper ads. Learn more
• Non-skippable Reach: Reach people using up to 15-second non-skippable in-stream ads. Learn more
• Drive Conversions: Get more conversions with video ads designed to encourage valuable interactions with your business. Learn more
• Ad Sequence: Tell your story by showing ads in a particular sequence to individual viewers with skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads, bumper ads, or a mix. Learn more
• Audio: Reach your audience while they’re listening on YouTube with audio-based ads. Learn more

As highlighted above, we will delve into the campaign objectives of Video Views, Efficient Reach, Target Frequency, Non-skippable Reach, and Drive Conversions in this article.

 

Table of Contents

You can click on the links below to easily navigate within this article.

 

YouTube Ad Formats by Objectives

YouTube primarily offers two types of video ad formats:

• In-stream ads play before, during, or after another video on YouTube or video partners on the Display Network.
  • Skippable in-stream ads give viewers the option to skip the ad after 5 seconds.
  • Non-skippable in-stream ads are usually 15–30 seconds long while bumper ads are up to 6 seconds long.
• In-feed ads (previously known as video discovery ads) can appear on YouTube search results, next to related videos, or on the YouTube homepage. They invite users to click on a thumbnail to watch the ad.

For further reading, you can check out the types of video campaigns and ad formats available via Google Ads.

On top of the YouTube platform, advertisers can opt for video ad placement on Google Video Partners too.

Below is a table highlighting the types of video ad formats available for different campaign goals.

Objective	Skippable In-stream	Non-skippable In-stream	Bumper	In-feed	Shorts	GVP: In-stream	GVP: In-feed
Video Views
Efficient Reach
Target Frequency
Non-skippable Reach
Drive Conversions

Note: All formats above are on YouTube unless stated as GVP (Google Video Partners).

Besides the video ad formats mentioned above, there are also Outstream ads which are mobile-only ads that appear across a variety of different placements on Google video partners, and Masthead ads which are only available on a reservation basis through a Google sales representative.

 

Ad Formats & Placements

 

1. YouTube In-stream Ad

(a) Skippable In-stream Ad

 

 

 

(b) Non-skippable In-stream or Bumper Ad

 

 

 

2. YouTube In-feed Ad

 

 

Note: YouTube In-feed Ad is not available on Desktop.

 

3. YouTube Shorts Ad

 

Note: YouTube Shorts Ad is not available on Desktop and TV.

 

4. Google Video Partners In-stream Ad

(a) Skippable In-stream Ad

 

 

(b) Non-skippable In-stream or Bumper Ad

 

 

Note: Google Video Partners In-stream Ad is not available on TV.

 

5. Google Video Partners In-feed Ad

 

Note: Google Video Partners In-feed Ad is not available on Desktop and TV.

 

Ad Specifications

 

In-stream Ad

Objective: Video Views, Efficient Reach, Drive Conversions

• Final URL
• Display URL
• Call-to-action *
• Headline (up to 30 characters)
• Long Headline (up to 90 characters)
• Description (up to 90 characters)

Objective: Target Frequency, Non-skippable Reach

• Final URL
• Display URL
• Call-to-action **
• Headline (up to 15 characters)

 

In-feed Ad

• Headline (up to 100 characters)
• Description 1 (up to 35 characters)
• Description 2 (up to 35 characters)
• Call-to-action **
• Final URL

 

* Learn more, Shop now, Sign up, Buy now, Watch now, Start now, Book now, Download, Order now, Play now, Subscribe, Apply now, Donate.

** Learn more, Shop now, Sign up, Buy now, Watch now, Start now, Book now, Download, Order now, Play now.

 

Multi-format Ad

Multi-format video ads are available for Video Views, Drive Conversions campaign objectives. Google recommends adding up to 5 videos to improve your campaign performance by using videos with different orientations.

According to Google, you can get up to 40% more views at a lower cost-per-view by showing your videos across the ad formats that perform best.

Your video ads can show as skippable in-stream ads, in-feed video ads, and Short ads. Your bid strategy will be Target CPV (cost-per-view). Shorts ads can only be used with multi-format video ads.

 

p/s: This article is published in May 2024 so Google might make changes by the time you read this. You can also check the Google ad specifications and Rich Media Gallery as additional references.