YouTube announced on Monday a range of new advertising formats, aimed at optimizing commercials directed towards its short-form feature, Shorts. Among the replacements, is the introduction of vertical video ads alongside Google’s AI-based Video Action campaigns. Paramount+ was amongst the first advertisers to take advantage of the latest update, spreading their film, “At Midnight”.
In addition to the new tools, YouTube Select will grant advertisers more control of the content their ads are displayed alongside in Shorts. Furthermore, advertisers are now able to be the first thing viewers will see upon entering the Shorts page.
When it came to the performance of Youtube’s ad revenue, the company’s third-quarter earnings report shows a 2.6% dip year-over-year to $6.69 billion. Despite the downturn, the short-form feature, Shorts, is still considered by the company to be a high priority, exceeding 50 billion daily views within the same period.
The announcement of the new ad formats was made during the YouTube Newfront presentation, where many key players attended. Most prominently, Kristen O’Hara, YouTube’s Vice President of Agency and Brand Solutions, commended the success of the platform’s Shorts initiative, urging many brands to utilize its benefits in order to reach more engaged viewers.
The updates that YouTube is rolling out to Shorts clearly indicate the importance that the platform places on its short-form feature. As more and more brands continue to use Shorts for its individual advertisement campaigns, it is likely that YouTube will benefit from the soaring popularity of the product.
