Know About YouTube’s Mid-Roll Ads Here

It’s common to see YouTube becoming a significant platform for influencer marketing. With over 2 billion monthly active users, YouTube has become the second most popular search engine after its parent company Google. Achieving success in this competitive platform isn’t a piece of cake for sure, but by following YouTube’s ranking algorithms and other criteria, things can become slightly simpler.

One of the most important aspects of YouTube that has come to light in recent times is mid-roll ads. It’s usually seen that influencer marketers on YouTube post videos of 10 minutes’ duration, which is about the same length. That’s because as per the monetization policy of YouTube, the platform runs mid-roll ads within videos that are of this duration. As such, YouTube creators who wish to make money out of the platform will have to meet the ten-minute threshold.

What are mid-roll ads?

Mid-roll ads are online ads that are played in the middle of a video content. Advertisers play these short ads to capitalize on longer-form videos uploaded on YouTube by different publishers. These ads, although running in the middle of a video, seeks to cause minimal disruption to the viewing experience of people.

There are also pre-roll ads on YouTube, but mid-rolls ads are different from them. Pre-roll ads are those online ads that play at the beginning of a video. On the other hand, mid-roll ads play as a break (something similar to TV commercials) in the middle of a video. Users may be able to skip these ads depending on the length of the ad.

Usually, short mid-rolls ads (of 5 seconds’ duration) cannot be skipped because the option, “Video will play after the ad” appears instead of the “Skip” button.

What are the specs of mid-roll ads?

Mid-roll ads on YouTube are both desktop and mobile-friendly. As such, there are no specific device-related specifications to follow while running these ads. However, it’s important for advertisers to comply with video-making best practices to enhance the overall viewing experience of people.

At the same time, advertisers have to ensure that the context and all unique attributes of the mid-roll ad is taken into consideration. The maximum length of skippable ads is three minutes or less, and the YouTube-compliant, MP4 format is recommended. The minimum length of these ads is twelve seconds, but it’s fifteen to twenty seconds for ads that are non-skippable. This, however, depends on the region where the ad is shown.

The hosted video should be at least 10 minutes or longer, and the ad must be hosted on the platform after creating it through Google Ads. The ad is manually or automatically placed as a break in the middle of the main video.

What is the budget for these ads?

Usually, while running ads on YouTube, advertisers pay on the basis of cost per impression (CPM) by using Google Ads. This implies that advertisers pay only for ads that have gained views and have generated some degree of brand awareness.

Advertisers get control over their bids, ad placements, and overall strategy using Google Ads. As such, they need to focus on setting their account up properly and determine their budget to avoid overspending.

Closing lines

The mid-roll advertising format on YouTube has gained immense traction in recent times. However, advertisers should follow the tips below to be able to generate ROI from these ads:

• Placing the ad in locations where viewers are likely to watch it the most.
• Making ads that match the hosted content and its audience.
• Disabling non-skippable ads to achieve brand awareness goals.
• Making ads that boost the viewing experience without causing annoying disruptions.

Mid-roll ads on YouTube have a high potential to increase cash flow for YouTube creators. It’s all about creating the right ad for the right audience and showing it in the right place.