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YouTube testing movie showtimes, app installs, and more interactive ads below videos

Last year, YouTube began displaying concert showtimes underneath music videos on the web and mobile. The Google video site is now expanding that ad extensions space to include movie showtimes, app installations, and more.

At Advertising Week New York 2018, YouTube announced a handful of announcements focussed on helping users and providing more video analytics and stats.

Advertisers can already display location-based ad extensions, as well as a ‘forms’ format that allows watchers to submit an email address or phone number to quickly sign-up for a service or learn more about a business.

YouTube is now exploring additional use cases “that encourage viewers to complete lower-funnel actions.” This includes displaying movie showtimes, downloading an app, and booking a trip. Like on Google Search, the aim is to provide quick access to actions that users might already want to perform after watching a video.

The first use case seems the most useful and appears identical to movie listing Knowledge Panels in Search. A top-level carousel allows users to browse through days with available theaters and various formats listed below for easy selection.

According to Google, Vodafone, Chili’s, 20th Century Fox, Headspace, and Maybelline are already using extensions for video ads.

Meanwhile, YouTube is adding Brand Lift studies to Google Ads or Display & Video 360, the company’s recently announced merger and simplification of its advertising products.

Additionally, we’ve introduced two new metrics: lifted users, the number of people who were influenced by your ad, and cost-per-lifted-user to make it easier for you to optimize your campaign’s effectiveness and cost-efficiency.

We’re also ramping up our investments in Google Measurement Partners to ensure our advertisers can measure YouTube media with measurement solutions that meet rigorous, verified standards. We work closely with partners to ensure their solutions respect user privacy.


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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com