Channels that are enrolled in the YouTube Partner Program can run several different kinds of ads. Each ad type comes with its own set of benefits and drawbacks. Choosing the right ads and placing them correctly can help you earn more revenue.

Here are the pros and cons of every kind of ad you can run on your channel.

TrueView Ads

Pro: Viewers only have to watch thirty seconds for you to be paid.

Con: Advertisers only pay if viewers engage with the ad.

TrueView ads appear in a couple different places on the platform, such as at the top of searches or on the side as recommended videos. Within the context of your videos, however, TrueView ads are the skippable kind.

Advertisers are only charged for the number of people who engage with their TrueView ads, whether they click on the ad or watch it for at least thirty seconds. This means that, in turn, you only earn money from these ads if viewers engage with them.

Overall, advertisers who use TrueView ads tend to create more interesting and engaging promotions so that viewers will want to engage with them. The ads have to be interested so that viewers don’t choose to skip them. These ads tend to tell a story as well as sell a product, so viewers might not find them as irritating as the typical commercials they see.

Pre-Roll Ads

Pro: These ads are shorter and therefore less distracting.

Con: Viewers have to click for you to earn revenue.

Pre-roll ads appear at the beginning of a video. Unlike TrueView ads, pre-roll ads cannot be skipped over by viewers. They must watch the entire ad in order to access your content.

Pre-roll ads are also shorter than TrueView ads, clocking in at fifteen to twenty seconds. However, because those ads are shorter, viewers need to click on them in order for you to be paid by that advertiser. Simply watching the ad is not enough.

Mid-Roll Ads

Pro: The more you add, the more revenue you earn.

Con: Too many can frustrate viewers and cause them to click away.

The same ads appear as mid-roll ads, which you can add within a video that’s more than ten minutes long. The longer your video is, the more mid-rolls you can add. The more mid-roll ads you include, the more revenue you can earn from a single video.

However, you must find a good balance, because having too many mid-roll ads can actually drive viewers away from your video. It’s best to place mid-roll ads at natural breaks in your video, similar to commercial breaks during television programs.

Bumpers

Pro: Viewers prefer shorter ads.

Con: The shorter time makes it challenging to get viewers to click.

Like a pre-roll ad, a bumper is short and unskippable. However, they’re even shorter than pre-roll ads, hitting a maximum of six seconds in length. Many viewers prefer quick bumper ads over longer pre-rolls.

When it comes to ads like these, what the viewer prefers isn’t necessarily in the best interest of your channel. The shorter an ad is, the more challenging it is more that advertiser to get your viewers to click. When fewer viewers engage with your ads, you’ll earn less revenue.

Monetized channels have several ad options to choose from. Use this list to help determine which ads are best for you on a video-by-video basis.