TLDR

YouTube ad library - does it exist? Yes! To increase transparency and accountability for advertising on its platform, Google has created a YouTube ad library!

Nine times out of ten, this isn’t the case, but… Have you ever seen a YouTube ad, skipped it, but wanted to watch it again, or save it because the product or service interested you? Struggle no more, as we show you in this article where to find YouTube ads.

When Did YouTube Ads Start?

When YouTube ads started in 2007, they were introduced as a way for creators to monetize their content and for businesses to reach their target audience. Since then, video ads have become an integral part of the platform and have evolved to include several formats, such as skippable and non-skippable, bumper, in-feed, and more.

How YouTube Ads Work

Before we show you how to find the list of all YouTube ads, it’s essential to understand how video ads work.

Have you ever wondered are youtube ads personalized?

The answer is yes, they are, but it’s important to note that this personalization happens at the aggregate level, meaning it’s based on patterns of behavior among groups of users and not on individual users.

YouTube ads work by targeting specific demographics such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviors. This allows advertisers to reach a more relevant audience and increase the chances of their ad being effective. YouTube also uses data from users’ search history, watch history, and interactions with the platform to personalize ads for each user. This is known as “behavioral targeting” and makes these ads highly effective for advertisers.

Introducing, The YouTube Ads Library

Thankfully (for many reasons!) Google runs its own advertiser identity verification program, meaning advertisers must prove who they are and where they’re located. This way, users can know more about the company behind an ad and see examples of the campaigns they’re running.

The YouTube ads library is called the Ad Transparency Center, and a screenshot of the search page can be seen in the screenshot below.

Simply enter the name of the company and click a name from the available list to see their active ads. If the company name doesn't exist, you might need to enter their legal name. Alternatively, you can find ads in the wild by following the steps below

Step 1: Search the company whose ads you want to see.

Step 2: Click the little gray arrow beside the company to see the ad center.

Step 3: Select “see more ads” in the ad center Step 4: Once redirected to the adstransparency.google URL, change the 'all formats' drop-down to “video,” and voilà, you are presented with a list of that company’s most popular YouTube ads right now (and it's updated daily).

YouTube Ad Campaign Search

If you are running video ads for a company, and you’re wondering “how to see my YouTube ads,” then you can follow the four steps above but search for your company name instead. Using an incognito window may work best for this.

Finally, look at ads over the maximum date window to see the oldest running and likely most popular video ads for the company you are searching for. You can take this one step further by clicking “Watch on YouTube” to see the official date they were uploaded.

Are YouTube Ads Worth It?

While it is hard to guess how much video ads officially cost, you can get a rough estimate by multiplying an average cost per impression, like $0.02, by the total number of video views.

Overall, the effectiveness of YouTube ads can vary depending on several factors, such as audience, ad format, and content. Make sure your campaigns are as effective as possible by using the YouTube ad library.