In 2020, YouTube Shorts made its debut as an answer to TikTok's meteoric rise; since then, this platform-exclusive short-form content format has steadily spread across YouTube — including in recommendations!

With its functionalities such as sampling and looping features that mimic those of TikTok, the company recently unveiled some additional features within the app which are reminiscent of it like pausing playback when someone else is watching or creating your own camera angles.

In its earliest iteration, the feature enjoyed significant success in India which was swiftly followed by its complete availability within the U.S. in March 2021; by July 2021, it became available across over 100 countries globally. 

Evidently, there is a growing enthusiasm from audiences to consume these types of content as if it were a new phenomenon—an alternative to the platform's mainstay: long-form videos. In fact, according to YouTube’s official blog 1.5 billion logged-in users watch short-form videos on YouTube Shorts monthly!

With all this hype going around, it isn’t surprising for this powerhouse to start  introducing ads in Shorts. Marketers have been eagerly awaiting the launch of YouTube Shorts ads since the feature's introduction—and now, it’s official!

YouTube introduces ads in Shorts

At Google Marketing Live 2022, the video platform announced that they would slowly roll out ads to the Shorts feed. While Google is working on gaining access to the full Shorts inventory, advertisers can display video ads through Video Action Campaigns (VAC) and App Install Campaigns (AIC).

‍This makes it possible for marketers to scale bottom-funnel campaigns with the help of YouTube Shorts. 

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People are spending more time researching brands and products before they make a decision, rather than buying on impulse after seeing an ad. This has led to an increase in watch time on online videos, which has grown by 34% over the past two years. Video platforms have the most influence on buying decisions, and short-form videos provide a way for brands and creators to share bite-sized, organic content. 

With YouTube Shorts having experienced explosive growth with an average of 30 billion views daily, brands and creators have seen an increase in viewership and channel subscriptions, and advertisers can now take advantage of the popularity of short-form content to drive bottom-funnel conversions.

If you aren’t convinced it’ll positively impact your business, let’s break down—

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