Video ads by channel / YouTube
Video ads for YouTube.
Written for the five-second skip, cut as a six, a fifteen and a thirty, and mixed for the television it mostly plays on.
The medium
A YouTube ad plays in front of something the viewer chose, and the viewer can leave it after five seconds. That one rule shapes the whole medium. Google's own creative guidance says to front-load the story arc, open with impact and treat the first five seconds as the most important, and a view is only counted at the thirty-second mark or at the end.
The screen is bigger than people assume. YouTube says television is now the primary device for YouTube viewing in the United States, with over a billion hours watched on TVs every day, while Shorts average two hundred billion daily views on phones where an ad can be swiped away at once. The same campaign can be seen at ten feet and at ten inches.
The formats are exact. Bumpers are six seconds and cannot be skipped. Non-skippable in-stream ads run fifteen or twenty seconds depending on the region, India among the twenty-second markets, or thirty on television. The masthead autoplays muted for up to thirty seconds. Each is a different film, not a different trim.
The specs
Quoted from the platforms' own pages. The source and the date each was read are under the table.
| Placement | Ratio | Resolution and file | Length | Sound and captions | Safe zone and rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skippable in-stream | 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 (4:3, 2:3 and 4:5 also accepted) | 1920 x 1080, 1080 x 1920 or 1080 x 1080; MPG recommended, MP4 and MOV among the accepted containers; 256 GB | No maximum; under 3 minutes recommended; a creative must be at least 12 seconds long to count views | Plays in the watch-page player with sound | Skippable after 5 seconds; overlays and buttons move by format and screen, so keep logo, product and supers inside Google's safe-zone template |
| Non-skippable in-stream | 16:9 (30-second reach assets must be horizontal) | As above | 15 or 20 seconds by region (20 in EMEA, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Singapore); 30 seconds on TV only; Google Ads also lists 15 to 60 depending on the campaign subtype | Sound on | Plays in full; does not count as a view |
| Bumper | 16:9 | 1920 x 1080 | 6 seconds (5 seconds minimum) | Sound on | Non-skippable |
| In-feed | 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 | 1920 x 1080, 1080 x 1920 or 1080 x 1080 | No maximum; 15 seconds recommended; under 10 seconds is ineligible for in-stream | Served as a thumbnail; sound once the viewer opens it | Headline 2 lines of 40 characters, description 2 lines of 35; vertical-only campaigns no longer serve in-feed |
| Shorts | 9:16 (horizontal serves with blurred bars) | 1080 x 1920 | 5 seconds minimum; up to 3 minutes, but only the first 60 seconds play in the Shorts feed; under 60 recommended | Sound on; Google says sound lifts conversions by over 20 percent | Right-hand button column; the CTA appears at 3 or 10 seconds depending on campaign type; immediately swipeable; also serves on desktop and TV |
| Masthead | 16:9 | 1920 x 1080 or higher, YouTube-hosted | Any length; over 10 seconds recommended; autoplays up to 30 seconds on desktop | Autoplays muted; captions may be added automatically | Headline 40 characters, description 60, CTA 15; reserved buy through a Google representative |
- Google Ads Help, video ad formats, read October 27, 2026
- Google Ads Help, video ad specifications, read October 27, 2026
- Google Ads Help, YouTube Shorts ads, read October 27, 2026
- Google Ads Help, YouTube ad requirements, read October 27, 2026
- YouTube Help, ad formats, read October 27, 2026
Google's pages give two readings of the non-skippable length and of the Shorts playback cap (60 seconds on the page fetched, 180 in a newer snippet); both are recorded above.
How we build an ad for it
Directed by people, made with AI, finished by hand. You approve the script and the sound before any footage is made.
Five seconds, then earn the rest
The skip button arrives at five seconds, so the brand, the promise and the most arresting image are all inside that window. What follows is written for the viewer who chose to stay: a reason, a demonstration, a line worth remembering.
A six-second film, not a six-second trim
A bumper that is the first six seconds of a thirty is a fragment. We write the bumper as one complete idea with its own beginning and end, then make sure it rhymes with the longer films so the campaign reads as one voice.
Three frames from one set of scenes
16:9 for in-stream and television, 9:16 for Shorts, 1:1 where the feed wants it. Each is composed from the source scenes rather than cropped, and the Shorts frame is laid out with the right-hand button column and the late-arriving call to action in mind.
Mixed for the living room
Because television is YouTube's main screen in the United States, the dialogue sits forward, the music does not fight it, and the supers are sized to be read from a sofa. The same mix is checked on a phone speaker before it ships.
The fifteen, twenty, thirty ladder
Non-skippable ads are fifteen seconds in most markets, twenty in India and across EMEA, thirty on TV. We cut the fifteen as the base film, build the twenty where the campaign runs in those regions, and keep the thirty for connected TV lines where it is allowed.
Supers that survive a muted masthead
The masthead autoplays without sound for up to thirty seconds and the in-feed unit is a thumbnail until opened. The opening frames carry their meaning in the picture and in large, plain text, so a silent play still tells the story.
Films that fit
Finished Filmito films, labeled with what each one is. Hover or tap to play.
What to order
A YouTube schedule needs the whole ladder at once, a sixty for the watch page, thirties for non-skippable and television, fifteens and bumpers for frequency, which is the monthly mix Scale ships.
30 seconds to tell the story and earn the click. First cut in 3 days, 2 revision rounds, 16:9 and 9:16 included.
Launch on the pricing page8 unique ads every month. For brands shipping weekly across markets.
Scale on the pricing pageQuestions about YouTube ads
How long should a YouTube ad be?
It depends on the format. Skippable in-stream has no maximum and Google recommends under three minutes, but a view is only counted at thirty seconds or at the end, and the skip comes at five. Non-skippable runs fifteen or twenty seconds by region, thirty on television. Bumpers are six. We usually deliver a thirty, a fifteen and a six from one idea.
What is a bumper ad?
A six-second non-skippable ad that plays before a video. Google requires at least five seconds and allows up to six. It works when it is written as a six-second idea; a trimmed thirty rarely does.
Skippable or non-skippable: which should we make?
Make both from one idea. The skippable version earns its length after the five-second window; the non-skippable is a complete fifteen or twenty. Google's own figures count views only on skippable ads of twelve seconds or more, so the fifteen is the base film in most plans.
Do you deliver a Shorts version?
Yes. Shorts ads are 9:16 at 1080 by 1920 and Google recommends under sixty seconds; only the first sixty play in the Shorts feed. The Shorts cut is composed from the source scenes with the right-hand buttons and the call to action in mind, not cropped from the 16:9.
Which file do you deliver?
A 1920 by 1080 MP4 at 16:9 and a 1080 by 1920 MP4 at 9:16, in 4K where the plan includes it. Google recommends MPG and accepts MP4, MOV and others up to 256 GB; audio-only files are rejected.
Will our ad run on television through YouTube?
If the campaign includes TV screens, yes, and that is where the thirty-second non-skippable is allowed. We mix with the living room in mind and keep the supers large enough to read from a sofa.
Keep planning
Other screens, the craft behind the films, and the public prices.
Other channels
Craft and proof
Plan your ad
Filmito
Tell us the screen. We build the film.
Six short questions about your brand and where the ad will run. A person replies within one business day with the idea, the price and the date.
Since 2017 · 9,700+ films · 4.8 from 970+ reviews, every one readable