YouTube Is Quietly Piloting An Ad Buying Program For YouTube Shorts | AdExchanger

Friday, November 17th, 2023 – 5:00 pm YouTube is making a behind-the-scenes effort to allow more advertisers to buy ads on YouTube Shorts – and only on Shorts. Three sources confirmed with AdExchanger that a pilot program has been in an alpha testing phase with a group of tech providers and brands for the past few months. All three sources have direct knowledge of the program and work at companies that are Google Premier Partners. YouTube rolled out new ad offerings for Shorts during its NewFront event in the spring, including the option to run ads between top-viewed Shorts. But sources say the ability to target solely Shorts inventory is a newer addition to this product suite, and opened up for testing over the summer. The purpose of the pilot is to help brands target ads specifically on YouTube Shorts. It’s a common tactic for platforms not to give advertisers control over specific placements, especially for newer formats before they reach scale. Buyers have been frustrated over their inability to separate Shorts from the rest of their video ad buys on YouTube. Today, most advertisers can only buy Shorts inventory in bundles with other YouTube inventory through discovery or reach
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