YouTube video ads have a hidden gem buried in the platform which makes it one of the most efficient video spots on the planet.

How can one of the largest platforms on the planet be a hidden gem? It comes down to some placement level adjustments that are leading to massive changes in the data that we keep seeing for our clients.

Google is seeing gains in subscribers to YouTube TV with an estimate of it reaching over 10 million subscribers in 2025. As that grows, so does the inventory for ad space on it. When you go into Google ads and setup a video campaign, there is an option that allows your ads to also run on Google TV. It’s a new-ish feature, and within it is the ability for your ads to run on YouTube TV.

Select Google TV (and make sure to uncheck GDN)

Typically, a CPM for CTV is between $25-35 (unless your Netflix and think you can get away charging $65, but I digress), and for the data we are seeing, you can get in these placements for $15-25. Pair that with your more traditionally skippable placements, and you get a strong mix of premium placements (TV) and classic YouTube skippable ads that blends into a great CPM and CPV. On a campaign in December for a Seattle based client, we saw over 15% of our ads show up on YouTube TV. With 97%+ view rates and efficient CPMs, it’s a great an efficient way to get premium placements layered into your YouTube buys.

For clients spending $10k-100k on a video campaign, we are highlighting the efficiency of Google right now because we can get some nice premium placements mixed in without the heavy costs of going with a vendor. Going back to our clients and saying our ads ran on ESPN, TBS and news channels is a great story to tell, all while doing it efficiently. If you want to check your campaigns, first make sure the Google TV option is checked on for your campaigns, and secondly, go to “Where ads showed” to find out if you are seeing this as well.

If you are currently running a campaign, go into Insights and Reports and check “Where our Ads Showed” and check it out. Filter for YouTube TV to see the entire list of channels and views connected to it.

We are very bullish on YouTube ads and as the TV product continues to grow so will the opportunity for your ads to run there. YouTube is a hidden gem right now and we are going to continue to monitor how the TV placements get rolled into the platform.

YouTube is a Hidden Gem