Be the first in-stream ad your target audience sees with First Position, now available across YouTube in Display & Video 360
09/13/24 - Granular
Granular analysis and first look
First Position is a powerful YouTube ad feature for PPC campaigns, ensuring a brand’s message is the first in-stream ad audiences see. With its expansion across all YouTube content, advertisers can now better time and target ads dynamically through Display & Video 360. This feature helps boost brand visibility and engagement at key moments, making it highly beneficial for brands during important launches or events.
In-depth Summary
- What it does:
First Position ensures that a brand’s ad is the first seen by viewers on YouTube, optimizing visibility. - Initial availability:
Previously exclusive to YouTube Select inventory at a fixed CPM, now accessible across all YouTube content at dynamic rates through Display & Video 360. - Why it matters:
- Brands can ensure their ads appear in prime spots during critical moments such as launches or events.
- Booking.com used First Position to increase ad recall by 21% during holiday travel promotions.
- IHG Hotels & Resorts achieved twice the YouTube benchmark in brand awareness and ad recall by targeting luxury travelers during NFL & F1 content.
- How to get started:
Advertisers interested in First Position can refer to the Help Center articles on Instant Reserve in Display & Video 360 and Reservations in Google Ads.
Helpful links for this Google update
Learn more about past Google updates
- Sep 2021 - Matching the Most Relevant Keyword to Every Search
- Oct 2021 - Link Your Zapier Account in the Google Ads UI
- Sep 2021 - Unlock Performance Insights with Enhanced Conversions
- Nov 2021 - Drive conversions across Google’s ad channels with Performance Max campaigns
- Nov 2021 - Customer Match is now widely available and easier to use
- Nov 2021 - Plan Across Your Entire Account with Performance Planner
- Feb 2022 - Google Partners: Evolving our partnership to serve you better
- Nov 2022 - Building More Durable and Effective Audience Strategies in Google’s Ads Platforms
- Oct 2022 - Deliver More Helpful Search Ads by Adding Your Business Information
- Sep 2022 - Making it Easier to Manage Automatically Applied Recommendations
- May 2022 - Recap of Product Announcements from Google Marketing Live 2022
- Mar 2022 - Reminder: Support for Expanded Text Ads Ends on June 30, 2022
- Feb 2022 - The New Privacy Sandbox Proposal: Topics for Interest-Based Advertising
- Jul 2022 - Upgrade your Smart Shopping campaigns to Performance Max
- Aug 2023 - Our new policy to help guide advertisers and build trust with users
- Aug 2023 - Vehicle ads will be upgraded to Performance Max with vehicle feeds
- Sep 2023 - Maximize views for your budget with Video View Campaigns on YouTube, now globally available
- Sep 2023 - Multiply your creativity with AI-powered tools for Search ads
- Sep 2023 - More information on Google Ads move to real-time bidding for apps
- Mar 2023 - New features to help you grow demand with Discovery ads
- Apr 2023 - First click, linear, time decay and position-based attribution models are going away
- May 2023 - Google I/O: Making AI helpful for everyone