How the Mobile Video Masthead Works
The mobile video Masthead is a homepage ad similar to the desktop video Masthead in that the format is based off of a YouTube video. It will appear on the homepage of all of the YouTube mobile and tablet properties, including the Android native mobile app, the iOS app, and m.youtube.com for smartphones and tablets. The unit features a video thumbnail, channel icon and name with optional customizable headline and description text. The length of the video will overlay the video thumbnail. When a user clicks on the video Masthead, they will go to the watch page for that video.
Advertiser can also provide an external URL with configurable call-to-action (CTA) text. Clicking that URL will lead the user to the advertiser website.
If this video used in the Masthead is enabled with a call-to-action annotation, then an overlay will appear over the bottom of the video on the watch page, inviting the user to visit the advertiser’s website. The text and image in the call-to-action overlay is configurable at the video level, and clicking this option will take the user to the specified destination URL.
Click below to see how it looks on different operating systems:
Required and Optional Assets
| Required / Optional | Asset Name | Deliverable | Comments/Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Required | YouTube Video URL | URL of primary video to be used. Must upload Video to YouTube and set as public or unlisted. | See guidelines below and help linkfor uploading Videos. |
| Required | Channel icon and name | Pulled in automatically from YouTube channel | These will appear above or below the video |
| Recommended | Headline text | 28 character limit for single byte characters.14 character limit for languages with double byte characters. | This text accompanies the video thumbnail. |
| Optional | Description text | 35 character limit for single byte characters.16 character limit for languages with double byte characters. | This will appear below the headline text. On some devices, there may not be enough room to show the full text provided. |
| Optional | Call to action text | 12 character limit for single byte characters.6 character limit for languages with double byte characters. | This will appear in the corner of the ad unit. |
| Optional | Call to action destination URL | Must provide a destination URL if using CTA (can be 3rd party URL) | Clicking on the CTA will navigate to the destination URL provided. |
| Required | Ad Attribution | “Ad” attribution will be displayed |
Creative Submission and Turn-around Time
- Assets received by YouTube no later than 4 (four) business days prior to campaign start date sent to your Account Manager and Media Solutions Consultant
- The desired video thumbnail should be set no less than 2.5 days before the start of the campaign, otherwise an older version of the thumbnail may appear during the live campaign
Youtube Video Ad
Technical Specifications:
The client must upload the video for the ad unit manually to YouTube and provide its watch page URL to the appropriate Account and Media Solutions Consultant. The thumbnail for this video is configurable and custom thumbnails are supported via YouTube video settings.
Please reference our help pages on best practices for optimizing your video and uploading your video. If you would like your video to be hidden from the public, you can make it unlisted by following the instructions here.
The information panel will pull content directly from the YouTube video and user content, as well as allow for optional elements. See required and optional assets above. Older versions of the Android app will display the video title and video description instead of the headline and description provided.
A call-to-action overlay annotation may be enabled for the video if it is not monetized (This is different than the optional call to action text on the ad itself). This will appear as an overlay on the bottom of the video showing up to 20 characters (10 double-byte characters) of text, an optional image, and the destination URL. Clicking this overlay will open up a browser navigating to the destination URL. Note: the CTA overlay is not fully supported on m.youtube.com across all devices!
Reporting Metrics
- Ad Impressions
- Clicks on the external URL from the ad
- Video clicks
- Video play quartiles: 0/25/50/75/100 percent video views
Third Party Tracking Capabilities
- Ad Impressions (1×1 pixel URL)
- Clicks to the Advertiser’s Site (redirect URL)
Please note that ad impressions will be reported per ad unit. We will only accept third party redirect/tracking pixels from a certified ad serving vendor. Please refer to the full list of approved vendors.
Additional Details and Recommendations
- Video play is user-initiated
- YouTube view count will only increment when a user clicks to play the video
- Videos must not be modified after 3PM (PST) the day before the campaign launch date
- All YouTube videos must be embeddable cannot be set to private when the unit is live
- Please allow 5% padding on each side of the custom thumbnail and avoid placing critical information like logos and text too close to the edges as they may get cut off in iOS app.
