YouTube ads for Shorts and in-stream
Viewers can skip most in-stream ads after five seconds, and Shorts move as fast as TikTok. We make both: vertical cuts for Shorts and widescreen cuts for in-stream, with the product on screen early. Then we run them through Google Ads.
Spec · 0:10
Spec · 0:15What we do on YouTube
- Two shapes from one idea
- A vertical cut for Shorts and a widescreen cut for in-stream, each framed for its screen rather than cropped.
- Front-loaded edits
- Product, brand and the reason to care inside the first five seconds, so even a skipped ad does some work.
- Longer demos where they pay
- YouTube viewers will watch a 30- or 60-second demo if it earns it. The larger sprints include those lengths.
- Demand Gen campaigns
- Google’s campaign type for YouTube, Shorts, Discover and Gmail, set up and judged on cost per customer like everything else.
Widescreen examples
The pack, in motion, by second four. 
A selfie format reframed for 16:9. 
The end card: product, brand, reason to buy.
Questions about YouTube ads
Do YouTube ads work for small brands?
They can, but they usually work best once Meta or TikTok is already profitable. We’ll tell you honestly whether YouTube is worth testing yet.
Do we need a YouTube channel?
Yes. Ads are served from a channel, but it doesn’t need subscribers. We can help you set one up.
Can we use our TikTok ads on YouTube?
Often, with changes: a new first five seconds for in-stream, and a widescreen version where it matters.
Related pages
Want to see what we’d test first?
Tell us what you sell and what you’re running now. We’ll come back with the angles we’d test first and what it costs.