The livestream Masthead ad is an ad format that you can use for high-visibility events such as product launches or fashion shows. You can set up YouTube livestream Masthead line items through instant deals in Display & Video 360. This is a semi-self-service feature where you create and manage the line item, and a dedicated Google team sets up the livestream creative for you after it passes a policy review.
On this page
- How it works
- Before you begin
- Set up your livestream Masthead ad
- Creative limitations
- Considerations
How it works
The livestream Masthead creative automatically changes based on the status of your livestream event:
- Pre-live state: Before your event starts, the ad's description shows a countdown to the start time. For example, the description may show "Livestream will start in 3 hours". The call-to-action (CTA) button will display "Set reminder" to help viewers remember to tune in.
- Live state: While your event is live, the description changes to a count-up timer. For example, the description may show "Started streaming 15 minutes ago". The CTA button will show the text you provided during setup.
- Post-live state: After your event ends, the description continues to show a count-up timer. For example, the description may show "Started streaming 2 days ago", and your CTA button remains visible.
Before you begin
You must meet the following requirements to be able to run a livestream Masthead ad:
- Required access: Your advertiser ID must be added to a specific access list to use livestream Masthead ads. Contact your Google account team for more information.
- Policy pre-approval: Livestream Masthead creatives require pre-approval from Google's policy team. This process must be started through your Google account team at least 5 business days before your campaign is scheduled to begin.
- Inventory source: Livestream Masthead ads are only available on YouTube homepage. Google TV isn’t supported.
- Sensitive categories: Livestream Masthead ads are prohibited for advertisers in sensitive categories, including alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and gambling.
- Shopping product feed: Livestream ads do not support the shopping product feed.
- Buying model: Livestream Mastheads can be bought using either the cost per hour (CPH) model or cost per thousand impressions (CPM) model.
- CPH: A minimum flight duration of one hour is required. CPH is highly recommended to align your ad's delivery with the specific time of your live event.
- CPM: A minimum flight duration of 24 hours is required per campaign.
Set up your livestream Masthead ad
Follow these steps to create your line item and prepare your creative for trafficking by the Google team.
Step 1 of 3: Create the line item
- Set up a new Programmatic Guaranteed or Non-Guaranteed instant deal.
- Create a new line item with the following settings:
- Ad format: Masthead ads
- Inventory source: Select YouTube only.
- Budget and dates: Set your preferred flight schedule and budget.
- Save your line item.
Step 2 of 3: Get policy pre-approval for your creative
Contact your Google account team to begin the policy pre-approval process. You must start this process at least 5 business days before your line item's start date. You’ll need to provide all of these creative elements of the ad, including your livestream watch page URL, headline, and call-to-action text.
Step 3 of 3: Submit the approved creative for trafficking
After your creative is approved by the policy team, your Google account team will submit it to be trafficked to your line item. Your Google account team will need the approved Masthead Preview Tool URL. It’s highly recommended to provide a backup video-on-demand (VOD) creative in case of any issues with your livestream.
The Google team will verify all requirements before attaching the creative to your line item.
When the Google team has completed the setup process, a “managed” icon will appear on the insertion order, line item, and ad group of the campaign that contains your livestream Masthead ad. In the “My inventory” page, the “managed” icon will appear on deals that contain your livestream Masthead ad.
Creative limitations
When a livestream video is used, some creative options are unavailable or will behave differently than a standard Masthead ad:
- Description: Custom description can’t be used. The description is automatically generated to show a countdown or count-up timer based on the livestream's state.
- Call-to-action (CTA): In the pre-live state, the CTA button will always show as "Set reminder". Your custom CTA text will appear during the live and post-live states.
- Supporting videos: Companion videos aren’t supported.
Considerations
- Any changes made to your organic YouTube channel while the Masthead ad is live such as changing the channel banner, logo, or video title, may cause the ad to stop serving.
- Any change of creative, such as changing the livestream’s URL or CTA, will require a new policy approval.