The Three Types Of YouTube Video Ads
The hard part’s done. The storyboards, the on-site video shoots, and the post-production editing are complete—and now you have a professional and compelling video promoting your brand. All that’s left is to share that content on your company’s website and social media accounts, right?
Not exactly.
Yes, sharing the video content you worked so hard to create is essential, but where and how you share it matters. Starting in January 2017, Google made some important changes to its advertising platform, AdWords, with the aim of broadening the reach and refining the focus for brands that advertise on YouTube.
Most significantly, brands can now target viewers based on those viewers’ prior Google searches. And because the cost per click for keywords on YouTube is a fraction of that for traditional Google search, it’s a more cost-effective option. Google also added tools that let advertisers track their return on investment (ROI) on a specific ad or campaign. So how does all this work for you, the advertiser?
In the new setup, there are three basic types of Youtube ads—each with its own
advantages and capabilities. Let’s look at them in detail.
1. True View Ads
TrueView ads are the standard type of YouTube video ad. Ad duration is limited to between 12 seconds and 6 minutes, and advertisers only pay for an ad when a viewer either interacts with the ad (e.g., by responding to a call to action) or when a viewer allows the ad to run for at least 30 seconds or until the end of the video. Non-skippable ads of this type are limited to 15–20 seconds in duration.
There are two sub-types of True View ads. The first is Video Discovery ads (formerly called In-Display ads). These ads appear on a viewer’s home page, on search results pages, and as related videos on watch pages. When seen in search results, they appear accompanied by a yellow box identifying them as ads. If a viewer then clicks on the ad, the video ad plays and the companion banner display ad appears in the sidebar.
Another type of True View ads is In-stream ads. These ads play when a viewer selects and initiates a YouTube video. Typically viewers are offered the chance to skip the ad after 5 seconds. In-stream ads can play anywhere within the Google Display Network, or on any site that has bought Google video ad space.
Advertisers can customize in-stream ads with clickable calls to action that overlay the video.
2. Preroll Ads
Preroll ads are non-skippable in-stream ads that can be placed before, mid-roll, or following a video. These ads are limited to 15–20 seconds n duration. Longer, skippable pre-roll ads of 10 minutes or more in duration may also appear mid-roll in a video. Because these longer ads are skippable, they allow advertisers to optimize the first few seconds of an ad with an overlay call to action.
3. Bumpers
The final type of YouTube ad is Bumper ads, which are limited to 6 seconds in duration. As their name implies, these ads run at the start or conclusion of a selected video. Since these micro-ads offer little time to weave a complex narrative, they are often used to augment or highlight a broader campaign featuring video ad content of greater duration.
We hope this information helps you make more informed choices when purchasing and placing video ads on YouTube. At Mighty 8th Media, we are committed to creating the highest quality video content available and are eager to work with you to help grow your brand. Contact us today and let us know how we can help.
