1. How often do ads show on Shorts?
We are testing and experimenting with ads on Shorts and focused on ensuring optimal user and advertiser experience when surfacing ads.
2. How does YouTube determine what content gets recommended in Shorts?
Shorts recommendations aim to help each viewer find videos they want to watch, and support the discoverability and growth of Shorts creators. To recommend a video to users, our system looks at many signals like what they watch (and don’t watch), likes and dislikes, where and when they watch, survey results, and many more.
3. Are businesses (advertisers/brands/broadcasters/media companies, and so on) permitted to use Audio Picker content in their Shorts ads?
There’s some royalty free music content available for use in Shorts. You can find this content by searching for “YouTube Audio Library” within the Shorts library.
If you want to use other than YouTube Audio Library content for a commercial purpose, before publishing your Short make sure you have cleared all the necessary rights with the copyright owner. If you don’t clear rights with the copyright owner(s), your Short(s) could be subject to enforcement, including copyright takedowns and other legal actions.
4. Are lead forms compatible with YouTube Shorts ads?
Lead forms aren't currently compatible with YouTube Shorts ads.
5. Since Shorts are immediately swipeable, are impressions counted when a user swipes back to a Shorts ad?
Today, when a user swipes back to a Shorts ad, no new impression is counted.
6. Are hashtags added to Shorts ads description clickable?
No, hashtags on Shorts ads added to the description aren't clickable and don’t link to organic hashtags in any way.
7. Are ads longer than 60 seconds eligible to serve on Shorts?
Yes, video ads longer than 60 seconds are eligible to serve on Shorts. The video will be watched until the 60 second mark then loop from the start. Users can watch the rest of the ad in the YouTube watch page by clicking on an overlay that will pop up at the 50 second mark before looping the video when it hits the 60s cap.
Google Ads strongly recommends advertisers using videos that are less than 60 second long video ads to match the user behavior when watching Shorts and optimize investment across surfaces.
8. Can I build a remarketing list with Shorts-Viewers?
Yes. Remarketing list creation for YouTube Shorts is fully supported for both organic and ad content.
9. Will the RHS Panel roll out to public and unlisted videos?
Yes, the RHS Panel in Shorts ads will roll out to both public and unlisted videos. The share button will only be enabled for public videos.
10. Do likes, dislikes and comments increment on my organic channel if my video is public?
Yes, likes and dislikes will be treated just like any other organic video. Likes will show the aggregate like count, and dislikes will not show count. Comments won’t be accessible for Shorts ads as of this time and users will receive a notification that action isn’t possible for Ads.
If your video is unlisted, it won’t appear in your channel but, when accessing your unlisted video through a link, likes, dislikes and comments will be displayed.
11. Where can I find reporting of engagements via RHS panel?
Engagements of RHS panel are tracked in the same way as organic videos on Shorts and displayed in your YouTube channel metrics (separate from Ads metrics). Reporting of RHS panel isn’t available in Google Ads.
12. Do any campaigns optimize using signals from RHS panel engagements?
No. While RHS engagements on organic videos can influence organic discovery, engagements on Ads will not influence either organic or ads discovery as of this launch.
13. What if I don’t want RHS Panel buttons on their ads?
At this time, we will be rolling out the RHS Panel across all eligible ads on Shorts. There is no opt out capability or ability to hide the RHS panel.
14. Will the RHS Panel overlay over my creative asset? And if so, what is the guidance on the viewable area of ads on Shorts given the addition of the RHS Panel?
Yes, as is true on organic content on Shorts as well. Learn more About video ad specs.
15. Are clicks on the RHS Panel a billable event?
No, clicks on the RHS panel are not considered billable.
16. Are clicks on the RHS Panel considered a view?
No, clicks on the RHS panel are not considered a view.
17. Do the specs of my ad creative need to change to accommodate Shorts ads on CTV Devices, tablet or on desktop?
Specs on Shorts ads are the same for mobile tablet, CTV devices, and desktop.
18. What is the guidance on the viewable area of Shorts ads on CTV devices, tablet, or on desktop?
While there is a larger viewable area for Shorts ads on CTV devices, tablet, and on desktop because RHS panel does not render as an overlay to the asset, Learn more About video ad specs to ensure assets can serve appropriately across devices.
19. Where can I find reporting of ads on CTV devices, tablets, or desktops within Google ads?
Within Google Ads, device reporting is available and can be broken out by mobile, tablet, desktop and TV. Shorts ads on CTV will not be broken out in reporting.
20. What if I don’t want my Shorts ads to run on CTV devices, tablets, or desktops ?
You can control on which devices your ads appear by using device targeting; it will apply to Shorts ads as well.
21. Can all asset orientations serve as Shorts ads on tablet and desktop devices?
Vertical, Square and Horizontal assets are all eligible to serve as Shorts ads on tablet and desktop (as is true for Shorts ads in the mobile Youtube app). We recommend using vertical assets to your campaigns that include Shorts is recommended for best viewer experience.
22. Can all asset orientations serve as Shorts ads on CTV devices?
Vertical, Square, and horizontal assets are all eligible to serve as Shorts ads on CTV for Video Reach campaign, Video view campaign, and YouTube Shorts with Reservation campaigns. Vertical assets will still be prioritized over horizontal assets by our system. We recommend using vertical assets to your campaigns that include Shorts is recommended for best viewer experience.
23. Can Shorts ads be clicked on CTV devices?
Shorts ads on CTV can't be clicked (like, dislike, and “learn more about this ad” are the only features
24. Is store sales reporting available for Shorts inventory?
Store sales (and store visit) reporting isn't currently available for Shorts ads.
25. My campaign isn't spending in full. What can I do?
Learn more about Performance fluctuations to troubleshoot performance issues with your campaigns.
26. Is third-party measurement available for Shorts Ads?
- Third-party measurement partners can measure reach and viewability of Shorts ad inventory through Ads Data Hub (ADH).
- Third-party Brand Safety reporting is available via DoubleVerify, IAS and ZEFR.
- Third-party Reach measurement is available via Nielsen, Comscore, Video Research, Kantar, Gemius, VideoAmp, iSpot, and Audience Project.
- Third-party Viewability is available via DoubleVerify, IAS, and Moat.
27. What do I do if I only have horizontal assets?
If you only have a horizontal asset, you can use our Video Enhancement feature to generate vertical video assets from your existing horizontal asset.
If you choose to only use horizontal assets in your YouTube Shorts ad campaign, we will serve the horizontal asset on YouTube Shorts with blurred top and bottoms in the vertical Shorts experience.
28. How can I preview how my ads will look like on Shorts?
You can check how your ads would look like on Shorts, including how text would be displayed and how the Right Hand Side (RHS) Panel would be positioned by using the preview feature in the ads creation panel.
29. Are product feeds on Video action campaign, Performance Max, App campaign for installs, Video reach campaign, Video view campaign, Demand Gen eligible to run on Shorts?
Yes, product feeds on Performance Max campaign, App campaign, Demand Gen campaign, Video reach campaign, and Video view campaign are eligible to run on Shorts. If you’re already running a campaign with product feeds, Google ads recommends uploading vertical videos to increase the likelihood that your ads and product feeds serve on shorts.
30. How are Google Merchant Center feed product images used in YouTube Shorts image ads?
Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns with Google Merchant Center feeds are eligible for image ad placements on YouTube Shorts. This image (not a video) ad format selects 4 product images from the advertiser’s Google Merchant Center (GMC) by using product group filters in place and/or personalization signals for the user that views the ad. The image is slightly animated with audio. The clickable elements in the format are the click-to-action (CTA) button and the 3 dot menu. All the ad formats have more user control. Each of those product images will also be clickable as of September, 2024. If a user decides to not engage with an ad, they can simply swipe to the next YouTube Short feed result from the ad.
