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YouTube ad sizes for 2026
The shapes and resolutions Google lists for YouTube video ads, what happens to a wide ad in Shorts, and how to make the set from one master.
The short answerGoogle lists three shapes for YouTube video ads: horizontal 16:9 at 1920 × 1080, vertical 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 and square 1:1 at 1080 × 1080, with 15 seconds recommended for in-stream and in-feed ads.1 For Shorts, Google prioritises the vertical shape; a horizontal ad there plays with blurred bars above and below.2
- Three shapes: 16:9 at 1920 × 1080, 9:16 at 1080 × 1920, 1:1 at 1080 × 1080.1
- Shorts prioritises vertical video; a horizontal one plays with blurred bars top and bottom.2
- Only the first 60 seconds of an ad play in the Shorts feed, even though it can be up to 3 minutes long.2
- Make the 16:9 and the 9:16 as separate layouts; one cropped from the other loses its edges.
On this page
YouTube ads run in three places a viewer meets them: before or during another video (in-stream), in the home feed and search results (in-feed), and in the vertical Shorts feed. Google lists one set of shapes for all of them and leaves it to the campaign which ones to serve, so a set made only in 16:9 reaches Shorts letterboxed.
The values below come from Google Ads Help, read on 27 October 2026.
- The campaign type, because Google’s recommended lengths differ by type.
- Your finished master, with its layers if you have them.
- Sound: music, a voiceover or both, for the Shorts version.
Step 1Make the three shapes Google lists
For in-video ads on YouTube, Google lists the same three shapes and resolutions on its video ads specs page:
| Shape | Ratio | Resolution (px) | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-stream and in-feed, horizontal1 | 16:9 | 1920 × 1080 | 15 seconds recommended; .MPG recommended, .MP4 and .MOV accepted |
| Vertical, for Shorts1 | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 | 15 seconds recommended |
| Square1 | 1:1 | 1080 × 1080 | 15 seconds recommended |
Google Ads Help, Video ads specs and format requirements, read on 27 October 2026.
Google recommends .MPG files and accepts .MOV, .MP4, WebM, ProRes and HEVC among others, up to 256 GB; audio files such as MP3 or WAV are not accepted.1 A finished ad exported as .MP4 or .MOV at these resolutions is fine.
Video action campaigns take all three shapes, at 10 seconds or longer,1 so a square version earns its place there even if the rest of the plan is horizontal and vertical.
Step 2Make a vertical version for Shorts
Shorts is a vertical feed. Google says vertical 9:16 videos are prioritised for Shorts ads in brand campaigns, and that a horizontal asset serves there with blurred bars at the top and bottom.2 The difference in what the viewer sees:
| Shape served in Shorts | What fills the screen |
|---|---|
| 9:16 vertical | The whole ad |
| 16:9 horizontal | The ad as a strip across the middle, blurred above and below |
| 1:1 square | Supported; Google does not describe how it is shown |
From Google’s Shorts asset specs page: vertical prioritised, horizontal served with blurred top and bottom.
Keep the Shorts version under a minute. Google allows up to 3 minutes, but only the first 60 seconds play in the Shorts feed, and it recommends ads shorter than 60 seconds there.2
Step 3Cut each version to the length its campaign wants
The same shapes serve every campaign type, but Google recommends different lengths for each. Cut the versions before you resize them, so each shape is made once at its final length:
| Campaign or format | Shape | Recommended length |
|---|---|---|
| In-stream (skippable) and in-feed1 | 16:9 | 15 seconds |
| Bumper1 | 16:9 | 6 seconds |
| Video reach, Shorts1 | 9:16 | 6 to 60 seconds |
| Video action1 | 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1 | 10 seconds or longer |
| Action-focused Shorts2 | 9:16 | 10 to 30 seconds |
| YouTube Masthead1 | 16:9, 1920 × 1080 | Any length |
Google’s recommended lengths, from its video ads specs and Shorts asset specs pages, read on 27 October 2026.
A 15-second horizontal cut and a shorter vertical cut of the same ad are two edits, not one file in two shapes. Decide which moments each keeps first, then lay out each shape around the parts it shows: the product, the words and the logo.
Step 4Leave room for the button and the side panel
A Shorts ad has a panel on the right with like, dislike, comment and share buttons, and a call to action button that appears after a few seconds.2 When it appears depends on the campaign:
| Campaign type | The call to action appears after |
|---|---|
| Performance Max, App and Demand Gen | 3 seconds |
| Video view and Video reach | 10 seconds |
From Google’s Shorts asset specs page, read on 27 October 2026.
Keep the logo, the product and any words out of the right edge and the lower part of the vertical frame, where the panel and the button sit, and say what matters before the button appears. Google does not publish percentages for these areas, so check the vertical version in a preview before it ships.
The words that go with it
In-feed ads carry a headline of up to 2 lines of 40 characters and a description of up to 2 lines of 35 characters. On Shorts, Google recommends a 40-character headline and a 90-character description, which can show in the overlay card on mobile.12
Other campaign types have their own limits on the same page. Video action campaigns take a 30-character headline, a 90-character long headline, a 90-character description and a 10-character call to action. The Masthead takes a headline of 40 characters or fewer, a description of 60 or fewer and a call to action of 15 or fewer.1 Write the copy for the strictest type in the plan, and the same lines fit the others.
Write the line that matters as the headline. Put a short version of the offer into the video itself too: Google notes that headlines do not show on the desktop and TV watch page and may not show on mobile.1
Before the set goes out
Common mistakes
- Running only the 16:9 version.In Shorts it plays as a strip with blurred bars.
- A Shorts ad longer than a minute.Only the first 60 seconds play in the feed.
- Putting the price where the call to action button lands on the vertical version.
Open the master and choose Resize, pick the horizontal and vertical sizes, and eonik lays out each shape around the same parts, then shows them side by side for you to check before it makes them.
How to resize a video ad →Questions
What size is a YouTube Shorts ad?
Vertical 9:16 at 1080 × 1920 is the shape Google lists and prioritises for Shorts. Horizontal and square are supported, but a horizontal ad plays with blurred bars above and below.12
Sources
- Video ads specs and format requirements, Google Ads Help. 16:9 at 1920 × 1080, 9:16 at 1080 × 1920, 1:1 at 1080 × 1080, 15 seconds recommended.Checked 27 Oct 2026
- YouTube Shorts ads: asset specs and best practices, Google Ads Help. Vertical 9:16 is prioritised for Shorts; horizontal and square are also supported.Checked 27 Oct 2026