YouTube has launched a new premium content solution for advertisers to meet Australian viewers where they are consuming their content.
With data showing more than 7 million Australians now watch YouTube on their TV screens (65 per cent YoY growth), YouTube Select offers more capabilities for the TV screen and gives advertisers greater choice in how they buy.
YouTube Select was launched globally earlier this year. The new solution brings together preexisting solutions Google Preferred and Programs and Packages.
YouTube Select ‘lineups’ – key categories including entertainment, beauty and fashion – are available in Australia via Google Ads, Display & Video 360, and reservation.
Google Australia director of sales Rhys Williams [feature image] said the new solution aims to align ads with viewer’s “passions”.
“We know that engaged audiences are using YouTube to learn, discover ideas, to shape how they experience the real world in a whole bunch of new ways,” he said.
“Going into 2021 we are reimagining our premium contextual advertising offering, known as Google Preferred, under a new global umbrella called YouTube Select.”
Williams also revealed YouTube Select will put a greater emphasis on people viewing YouTube on their TV screen.
“We’re seeing Aussies turning more and more to YouTube on the biggest screen in their home. This shift in viewing behaviour means lineups contain more TV screen inventory than ever,” he continued.
Despite the sharp year-on-year growth in YouTube viewership on TV, Williams confirmed that advertisers are still adjusting to this consumption shift.
“The numbers are getting pretty telling now, with over 7 million Australians watching on TV. It definitely makes sense to be optimising for the big screen as much as you might do it for a different type of screen,” he said.
“We’re always talking to advertisers about how to build their creative so that it is optimised for the platform, we’ve done a lot of work with that over the years with skippable and TrueView formats.
“We do a lot of outreach with creative agencies to help them understand how users are using the platform and how to get cut-through, so we will continue to do that with the growth of TV.”
