YouTube Ads.

Video ads on YouTube are not booked in a separate system but in Google Ads. The main formats are: skippable in-stream ads, which can be skipped after five seconds; non-skippable in-stream ads of up to 15 seconds; six-second bumper ads; in-feed ads, which appear as a thumbnail in search and among the recommendations; and Shorts ads between short videos.

Billing varies by format. With skippable ads you generally only pay when someone watches for at least 30 seconds, watches the whole video or clicks. Bumper and non-skippable ads are usually billed per thousand impressions (CPM). Targeting can be based on interests, topics, search behaviour on Google and your own lists, such as previous website visitors.

An example: a kitchen maker shows website visitors who viewed the 'kitchen planning' page but did not book a consultation a 20-second ad featuring a finished kitchen and the line 'Book an appointment in the showroom'. That is retargeting with video: it reaches few people, but people who are already interested, and is more likely to bring enquiries than broad delivery to everyone interested in cooking.

For many SMEs, YouTube is not an entry-level channel. A video takes production effort, and the effect often shows indirectly, through more brand searches and better results in other channels. It becomes worthwhile when a product needs to be explained or shown, when video material already exists, or when the search campaigns are maxed out. Whether video fits the channel mix at all is a question for digital marketing consulting; the effect can only be measured with clean conversion tracking.