YouTube Shorts Ads (YouTube Shorts Advertising)
YouTube Shorts Ads are vertical video ads shown between organic Shorts in YouTube's short-form feed.
YouTube Shorts Ads let advertisers reach users in YouTube's TikTok-like vertical video feed. Shorts ads are full-screen, auto-play with sound, and appear between organic Shorts as users swipe through the feed.
Shorts ads are bought through Google Ads campaigns. They can be part of Video Action Campaigns or Demand Gen campaigns. Google's algorithm decides when to serve a Short ad vs. a standard in-stream ad based on predicted performance.
Creative that works on TikTok and Reels generally translates well to Shorts. The main difference is YouTube's audience behaviour: users tend to be slightly more intentional and tolerant of longer content, so you can deliver a bit more information in the first 5 seconds.
Related terms
Short
YouTube Shorts are vertical videos up to 60 seconds that appear in YouTube's short-form feed, competing with TikTok and Reels.
Vertical (9:16)
A 9:16 aspect ratio video format (1080×1920 px) for full-screen mobile placements like TikTok, Reels and Stories.
Google Ads
Google Ads is Google's advertising platform spanning Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns.
Hook
A hook is the opening 1–3 seconds of a video ad, designed to stop the scroll and compel the viewer to keep watching.