YouTube expands Shorts ad formats and targeting capabilities for advertisers

As part of its 2023 Newfront presentation, the company revealed that Shorts will now be integrated into its video reach campaigns, enabling advertisers to upload 60-second vertical videos to engage viewers.

Previously, brands could only access Shorts inventory through Video action campaigns and App Install campaigns.

Paramount+ was among the first to test the new version of video reach campaigns, promoting its new movie, "At Midnight," across YouTube's in-feed, in-stream and Shorts ad experiences. According to YouTube, Paramount+ achieved higher ad recall and efficiencies compared to in-stream ads alone.

Shorts currently attracts 1.5 billion viewers each month and is now seeing 50 billion views daily.

The company also announced that YouTube Select, its targeting solution for advertisers, will be coming to Shorts, enabling brands to present ads alongside relevant and popular short-form videos. In addition, advertisers can now have their ads shown first as viewers scroll through Shorts. YouTube's rival, TikTok, also offers similar tools for advertisers.

Kristen O'Hara, VP of agency and brand solutions, stated that since the launch of Shorts and video action campaigns last year, many brands have found innovative ways to use Shorts to reach audiences.

Despite a drop in ad revenue, YouTube remains committed to Shorts, which it considers to be its flagship product. The platform earned $6.69 billion in ad revenue in its latest earnings report, a 2.6% drop from the previous year.