At this year's YouTube Newfront presentation, the company made waves by announcing the rollout of innovative ad formats for its popular short-form feature, Shorts. This marks a game-changing moment for advertisers, who can now harness the power of Shorts to reach an even wider, more engaged audience.
One of the most notable updates is the integration of Shorts into YouTube's video reach campaigns. Utilizing Google AI, video reach campaigns combine skippable and non-skippable ads to optimize reach. Advertisers can now upload 60-second vertical videos, allowing them to capture the attention of captivated viewers like never before.
Prior to this update, brands could only access Shorts inventory through Video action campaigns and App Install campaigns, which were introduced in 2022 during Google Marketing Live. With these new ad formats, advertisers have more opportunities to make an impact on the platform.
Paramount+ was among the first partners to test the updated video reach campaigns, using it to promote their new movie, "At Midnight." The campaign spanned across YouTube's in-feed, in-stream, and Shorts ad experiences, resulting in higher efficiencies and ad recall than in-stream ads alone.
Currently, Shorts boasts a staggering 1.5 billion monthly viewers and receives a massive 50 billion daily views, making it an attractive platform for advertisers. YouTube also announced the expansion of reach ads into the home feed and the integration of YouTube Select into Shorts. This will allow brands to showcase their ads alongside popular and relevant short-form videos, further enhancing their connection with their target audience.
Furthermore, YouTube is giving advertisers the chance to have their ads be the first thing viewers see when they start scrolling through Shorts. This feature mirrors similar advertising tools available on TikTok, Shorts' main rival.
Kristen O'Hara, VP of Agency and Brand Solutions, said, "As our viewers bounce between long-form videos and Shorts, discovering tons of new artists on the platform, they're also discovering brands." She added that many brands have leaned into using Shorts since its launch.
Despite a slight drop in ad revenue in its latest earnings report, YouTube remains committed to Shorts as its crown jewel. With these groundbreaking ad formats and its rapidly growing viewership, YouTube Shorts is poised to transform the advertising landscape, offering an exciting new frontier for brands and creators alike.
