Los Mastheads are a YouTube format similar to Banners, are the large videos that usually appear in the header of the main page of YouTube and occupy the entire width of the page.

Masthead ads used to be limited to big brands with big budgets, since the price of being in this space is usually very expensive. This is no longer the case. YouTube is now launching mastheads ads for all brands and marketing agencies around the world that carry out YouTube ads.

What is a Masthead Ads location?

The placement of the header of YouTube ads is essentially a digital “billboard” that It has the ability to make us remember the brand.

Masthead ads have a significant impact on ad recall, with an average effectiveness of 92%. They also have an average effectiveness of 46% in purchasing intent. YouTube measures brand improvement by asking users to complete a survey before the video they're watching begins. This is a short multiple-choice survey in which the user is asked if they have recently seen an advertisement for a particular brand.

What is the history of Mastheads?

Previously, mastheads had a 100% impact within the specified country. This allowed advertisers to reach a huge audience, generate mass brand awareness, and create large remarketing lists.

As you can imagine, a location aimed at an entire country without competition for an entire day is extremely expensive. That's why only big brands with big budgets pre-booked a masthead.

Mastheads will continue to be a “reserved” location, but open to more brands with the ability to target specific audiences in the Google market and related audiences.

What is the difference between masthead ads and other YouTube ad formats?  

Masthead ads will only appear on the YouTube homepage on mobile and desktop devices.

Alternative ad formats are shown before, during, and after YouTube videos. These are called In-Stream ads (which can be omitted or cannot be omitted) or Bumper ads (short 6-second ads viewed by users who access the YouTube website from their mobile and that cannot be ignored). They can be Pre-roll, Mid-roll and Post-roll.

YouTube discovery ads are displayed on the YouTube search results page. While YouTube Display ads are displayed while videos are playing, suggested videos and overlapping ads are displayed during a video.

There are many different ad formats that are available to advertisers. You can learn more advertising formats on YouTube on its website.

YouTube video advertising continues to grow

YouTube remains the world's most popular video-sharing website and one of the most used social media platforms. YouTube increased its monthly active users by 137.5% over five years.

By comparison, its industry-leading rival, Facebook, increased its user base by 91.8% over the same period of time (not including Instagram or WhatsApp).

Source: Volan News 2019

Like most social media platforms, YouTube's revenue is based (to a large extent) on buying ads on its platforms.

Creators who publish content on the platform can charge through AdSense based on CPM (cost per thousand impressions), when users watch their videos.

Google knows that its platform is growing rapidly and has begun to promote YouTube ads as an option for digital marketers even more in recent years.

Many digital marketers choose direct response channels, as they seek a measurable ROAS (return on advertising investment) for their investments.

Historically, YouTube video advertising has not been a direct response channel, since it's very difficult to keep users away from their fun cat videos. How many times have you skipped an advertisement to watch a video or listen to your favorite song?

Google has been trying to combat this pushback from marketers by offering ad formats like TrueView for action.

This new format takes the existing in-stream format and encourages users to take actions on their site by adding more visible CTAs (calls to action), overlays and ad end screens to their ads.

TrueView ads for actions are in-stream ads that can be skipped and that are purchased at CPA (cost per acquisition) and that drive actions within your website. - Google Ads Announcements 2019

It's clear that this format is working. Google is getting smarter with its segmentation, and marketers continue to improve their YouTube campaigns.

Between 2016 and 2019, global YouTube ad conversions grew 150% year-over-year, demonstrating that users are starting to pay more attention to YouTube ads and take action.

How can I publish masthead ads for my brand?

This is an example of what a YouTube masthead ad can look like on mobile devices and computers. You can quickly create your own masthead preview using this tool Google tool.

Example of a mobile Masthead ad

Example of a desktop masthead ad

While mastheads will play automatically when users visit YouTube, the sound will be automatically turned off. However, this doesn't mean that the video shouldn't have sound. A great Masthead creative should delight users when they turn on the sound.

Masthead ads are very easy to customize using the Google tool with the ability to change:

• Video size (wide screen or 16:9)
• Automatic start of playback
• Duration
• Title
• Description
• Complementary videos
• CTA
• Destination URL

Currently, the only way to run masthead ads is to contact your Google sales representative.

Get in touch with us today to speak with one of our advertising advisors about masthead ads on YouTube and other advertising options that are available for your brand.

How can we help you?

If you need more information, do not hesitate to contact us.