Create YouTube video views line items

YouTube & partners video views line items help you get more TrueView views for your YouTube & partners ads at a lower cost by showing your ads in the places they perform best.

YouTube & partners video views line items simplify the views buying experience. You set the average bid amount that you’re willing to pay for a TrueView view and we’ll automatically find as many TrueView views as we can using skippable in-stream video ads, in-feed video ads, and Shorts video ads.

• Set your line items up easily with a simplified process, as you no longer need to think about formats and format combinations.
• Get more potential views for the same budget, as your videos can serve on various ad formats.
• Build brand consideration by showing your ads when viewers are browsing and discovering, watching long-form content, and enjoying and discovering short-form content.

On this page

• How video views works
• Create a YouTube & partners video views line item
• Limitations

How video views works

Some YouTube ads perform better when using certain ad formats. YouTube & partners video views line items use multi-format video ads, which mix and match your YouTube ads across multiple ad formats to determine where they perform best.

If you don't want to use multi-format video ads, you can still use skippable in-stream ads or in-feed video ads in separate ad groups. Using different ad groups with the same settings can result in your ads competing with each other and lower the total number of potential views your line item can receive.

Using multi-format video ads ensures that your ads will serve on all formats, in one ad group, maximizing the total number of views you can get.

Ad formats

• Skippable in-stream ads: A TrueView view is counted when a user watches your video ad for at least 30 seconds (or until the end of the ad, if it’s less than 30 seconds), or engages with your video.
• In-feed video ads: A TrueView view is counted when a user watches your video ad in autoplaying state for at least 10 seconds (or until the end of the ad, if it’s less than 10 seconds), or clicks the thumbnail to watch the video ad.
• Shorts ads: A TrueView view is counted when users watch the video ad for at least 10 seconds (or until the end of the ad, if it’s less than 10 seconds).

Learn more About YouTube ad formats.

Bidding

The bid strategy for YouTube video views is “Target cost per view (CPV)”. You set the average amount you're willing to pay for each TrueView view your line item receives.

From the Target CPV you have set, we'll optimize bids to help get as many TrueView views as possible. Some TrueView views may cost more or less than your target. Learn more about cost per view (CPV) bidding.

Create a YouTube & partners video views line item

Step 1 of 5: Create your line item

1. Start in an existing insertion order or create a new one.
2. Select New line item, then YouTube & partners video.
3. Enter the following information for your line item:
   • Enter your line item name.
   • Select Product and brand consideration as the objective
   • Ensure Video views is selected as the line item subtype. Video views combine skippable in-stream ads, in-feed ads, and Shorts ads.
4. Select Next.

Step 2 of 5: Configure your line item's settings

1. Select the ad formats you want to use. You can also deselect individual ad format options. However, excluding ad formats may impact your cost-per-view.
2. (Optional) Use a targeting template to set pre-defined targeting settings.
3. Review the settings in the “Targeting” section. Select Add targeting to set other line item-level targeting options such as device targeting. Additional types of targeting are available in the line item's ad groups.
   • Note: Unlike other types of line items, targeting for YouTube & partners line items can be set at the line item level and the ad group level. Any default targeting set at the insertion order or campaign level will not be applied to your YouTube & partners line items. Learn more about Targeting for YouTube & partners and Demand Gen line items.
4. In the “Flight dates” section, pick custom dates or use the same dates as the line item's insertion order.
5. Set your budget and how quickly it will be spent in the “Budget and pacing” section. After you save the line item, you can't change between daily and flight, but you can update the budget amount.
6. Configure the following optional settings:
   • Set the line item's frequency cap. Learn how to Manage frequency with frequency caps.
   • Select the checkbox under “Product feed” to use a Google Merchant Center product feed to show relevant products in your ads.
   • Add related videos to your line item. This adds a list of related videos below a YouTube ad.
   • Select any Floodlight conversions you want to use in your line item.
7. Under “Disclosures”, specify whether your line item includes European Union political ads.

Device targeting and bid adjustments

Device targeting allows you to target your ads to people based on the device they're using. To configure the device targeting setting:

1. Under “Targeting”, select Add targeting, then Device.
2. Ensure the devices you’d like to include in targeting are selected.
3. Select Advanced settings to set the targeted bid adjustments for each device type. For example, if your standard bid is $10.00 but you want your bid for smartphone views to be $12.00, you could set a smartphone bid adjustment of 20%.

Step 3 of 5: Create your ad group

1. In the “Ad groups” section, select Create new ad group.
2. Enter a name for your ad group.
3. Select Add targeting to configure ad-group level targeting. Learn more about Targeting for YouTube & partners and Demand Gen line items.
4. In the "Bid strategy" section, enter a tCPV bid to set the average amount you're willing to pay for each TrueView view your line item receives.

Step 4 of 5: Create your ad

1. Under “Ads”, select Create new ad.
2. Enter a name for your ad.
3. Search for a YouTube video or paste a YouTube URL in the “Video” field. The ad format is automatically determined and is displayed in “Preview”.
4. (Optional) In the “Preview” section, perform any of the following to preview your ad:
   • Select the All formats dropdown to change the preview by ad format.
   • Choose a network to preview how ad formats are shown on different channels.
   • Choose a device icon to show a preview of your ad on different devices.
   • Select Preview ad on YouTube to check a live preview of your ad on YouTube.com.
   • Select Copy link to copy the URL of your ad that will appear on YouTube. Selecting the arrow beside this link opens a panel where you can set a video to play after the ad you’ve created.
5. (Optional) Select Add logo and choose the file you want to upload as your ad’s logo. Your logo must meet the specifications to be eligible for serving.
6. Under “Companion banner”, choose between No companion banner or Upload my own image option.
7. (Optional) In the “Headline” field, enter a 30-character headline (including spaces) that promotes your product or service.
8. Enter the text for your long headline and description. The long headline is the first line of your ad and appears instead of your headline in some cases and can be up to 90 characters. The description adds to the long headline and provides additional context or details and can be up to 90 characters. Long headline and description doesn’t show in all ad formats.
9. (Optional) Enter the text for your call-to-action (CTA), which can contain up to 10 characters including spaces. The CTA should be a compelling action that directs users to the website specified in your landing page URL.
10. (Optional) Enter your business name in the “Business name” field. Your business name can contain up to 25 characters.
11. Enter the display URL and landing page URL for your ad. The destination URL can be other pages on YouTube or another website.
12. (Optional) For skippable ads, you may set up third-party click tracking under “Click tracker URL”. The click tracker must redirect to the same URL as your landing page URL. If you’re using Campaign Manager 360, you can select an existing tracking ad you'd like to use to view enhanced metrics in Campaign Manager 360.
13. Select Create ad.
14. (Optional) To use multiple ads, select Create new ad again and repeat the steps above. If you use multiple ads, Display & Video 360 will optimize ad rotation based on TrueView views.

Step 5 of 5: Complete your ad group and line item setup

1. Select Create ad group.
2. (Optional) If you'd like to use multiple ad groups, select Create new ad group and repeat the steps starting from the Create your ad group section.
3. Select Create to save your new line item.

Reasons for multiple ad groups

It can be useful to use multiple ad groups within the same line item if you have one budget that can be allocated across:

• Different audiences within the same YouTube & partners line item
• Different maximum costs per view within the same YouTube & partners line item
• Different kinds of targeting without limiting scale. For example, you could use audience targeting in one ad group and content targeting in another ad group.
• Different ad formats

Limitations

• Videos for YouTube shorts must be 5 seconds or longer. Ads longer than 60 seconds will loop in the Shorts environment, and an option to click out to the “Watch” page to see the full video will appear at the 50 second mark.
• Third-party measurement support is limited for YouTube & partners video views line items. Reach out to your measurement partner contact for more information.