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- Learn more about where Video ads are available.
- For information about the technical requirements for displaying your Online Video ads, please see Technical requirements for Online Video ads.
Online Video ads are designed to help you engage and captivate your audience. You can showcase your videos to drive recognition, boost visibility, and expand your video ad reach. You have the option to target your audience while they're streaming media. Online Video ads reach your audience on websites and apps like MSN, Microsoft Casual Games, King, and other publisher partners. Simply upload your high-quality video assets or allow Copilot to create videos for you.
To create a successful Online Video ads, see our list of best practices.
About Online Video ads
Online Video ads engage potential customers on websites across computer, tablet, and mobile devices and may appear in instream and outstream placements on the Microsoft Advertising Network. Instream placements include ads that appear while people stream media online. Outstream placements include ads that appear while potential customers are browsing a webpage and integrate naturally into page content.
Best practices for successful Online Video ads
Ensure that you're adding high-quality video assets. You may also take advantage of Copilot's autogenerated, three-star quality videos based on images from your Final URL with text overlays and sound.
You can upload both vertical and horizontal videos; however, vertical videos are the best fit for gaming placements.
Use text, graphics, and captions whenever possible. People choose to watch videos with sound off in many situations.
Map your video to your campaign objectives. For instance:
- Want to capture your audience's attention? We suggest that the first ten seconds are as appealing and enticing as possible. The first ten seconds are critical to land your message.
- Want to drive awareness? Focus on content that inspires and tells a story about your brand. Showcase your brand identity early in the video.
- Want to increase brand consideration? Talk about your solutions and how your brand is positioned in the marketplace.
- Want conversions? Provide information about your products or services to drive to engagement and sales.
Create Online Video ads
Create an Online Video ad in an existing campaign
To create Online Video ads in an existing Audience campaign, follow the instructions below. To create a new Audience campaign with Online Video ads, see How do I create an Audience campaign?
From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Ads & extensions > Ads.
Select Create, and then select an ad group.
For your ad type, select Video.
Enter the Final URL.
Select Add video. You can choose from Existing videos or Upload a new video from your computer or from a URL where the video file can be directly downloaded. You may also choose to add our Recommended videos in the step below.
Note
As you add videos, the Ad preview area on the right side of the page will update to give you an idea of what your Video ads could look like. Select the arrows on either side of the Ad preview area to move through the different possible placements.
(Optional) Below Recommended videos, you can choose to add our autogenerated videos to your ads. Please note that recommended videos are only 15 seconds long with a three-star quality rating if the images from your Final URL also have a higher resolution. Additionally, horizontal or vertical videos will appear in your recommended videos. You can browse the recommended videos by selecting the arrow or selecting View all to find the right video for you.
If you chose to add Recommended videos:
Select the pencil icon to edit your videos. When editing your videos, you can adjust the scene's Business name, Logo, Text, and Image. If you've been enabled to use video templates in Ads Studio, then you have the option to edit these video elements:
- For Assets, you can edit the Logo, Image, and Text.
- For Style, you can edit the Background color, Font color, Font, and Font weight.
- For Audio, you can choose the Music that you'd like to play in your video.
Note
Not everyone has video templates in Ads Studio yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!
Select Apply when you're finished editing your videos.
Optionally, under Advanced settings, you can apply Advanced URL options to set up the tracking and redirect information for your ads. Learn more about including tracking templates or URL parameters in your final URL.
Optionally, set up your Impression tracking URLs.
Choose from the list of Third-party partners below Third-party measurement if you want to connect third-party measurement to your Video ad.
Enter your Tag URL if you chose to connect third-party measurement to your ad.
Select Save.
Note
Unlike video extensions, which require a clickable thumbnail icon, video assets for Online Video ads don't require a thumbnail image for customer interaction, and the thumbnail icon cannot be edited.
Measure your Online Video ad performance
In addition to standard ad campaign metrics, you can review your Online Video ad's performance using a variety of video-specific metrics.
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Average CPV | Total spend divided by video views |
| Video views at 25% | Number of times a video has been viewed to at least 25% completion |
| Video views at 50% | Number of times a video has been viewed to at least 50% completion |
| Video views at 75% | Number of times a video has been viewed to at least 75% completion |
| Completed video views | Number of times a video has been viewed to completion |
| Video completion rate | Completed video views divided by total number of impressions |
Technical requirements for Online Video ads
Based on your video's quality, the placements where your Online Video ads are eligible to serve may vary. There are three video quality ratings—one star, two stars, and three stars. The technical requirements for each are listed below.
Vertical video requirements
For vertical videos, use one of the following recommended resolutions:
- 720 x 1280
- 1080 x 1920
- 1440 x 1080
These resolutions support high-quality vertical video uploads.
To help ensure strong performance, also make sure your video meets these requirements:
- File format: MP4 or MOV (preferred)
- Bitrate: Use a high enough bitrate to preserve visual quality.
- File size: Stay within platform limits for upload.
One star
Your video meets our minimum requirements and it's eligible to appear across some video placements. Upload a higher quality video to access more placements.
Technical requirements
- Duration: The duration must be between 6 seconds and 90 seconds.
- Supported file formats: MP4, MOV, WEBM, MKV, VOB, OGV, OGG, AVI, QT, WMV, RM, ASF, M4P, M4V, MPG, MP2, MPEG, MPE, MPV, M2V, 3GP, 3G2, SWF, and TS.
- Video bitrate: 2,500+ kbps.
- Video resolution: Must be one of the following: 360 x 640, 640 x 360, 540 x 960, 720 x 960, 960 x 720, 720 x 1280, 1280 x 720, 1440 x 1080, 1080 x 1920, or 1920 x 1080.
- Recommended maximum file size: 2 GB.
- Recommended video frame rate: 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, and 30 fps.
- Recommended audio format: Audio sample rate 44.1 or 48 Khz.
- Recommended aspect ratio: 4:3, 9:16, and 16:9.
Two stars
Your video's quality is good and it's eligible to appear across most video placements. Upload a higher quality video to access more premium placements.
Technical requirements
- Duration: The duration must be one of the following: 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 60 seconds, 75 seconds, or 90 seconds.
- Supported file formats: MP4 (preferred) and MOV.
- Video bitrate: 8,000+ kbps.
- Video resolution: Must be one of the following: 720 x 1280, 1280 x 720, 1080 x 1920, 1920 x 1080, or 1440 x 1080.
- Recommended maximum file size: 2 GB.
- Recommended video frame rate: 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, and 30 fps.
- Recommended audio bitrate: 192+ Kbps.
- Recommended audio format: Audio sample rate 44.1 or 48 Khz.
- Recommended aspect ratio: 9:16 and 16:9.
Three stars
Your video's quality is excellent and it's eligible to appear across all video placements, including our most premium placements.
Technical requirements
- Duration: The duration must be one of the following: 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 60 seconds, 75 seconds, or 90 seconds.
- Supported file formats: MP4 (preferred) and MOV.
- Video bitrate: 10,000+ kbps (minimum) for MP4, 42,000+ kbps for MOV (720p), and 80,000 kbps.
- Video resolution: Must be one of the following: 720 x 1280, 1280 x 720, 1080 x 1920, 1920 x 1080, or 1440 x 1080.
- Recommended maximum file size: 2 GB.
- Recommended video frame rate: 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, and 30 fps.
- Recommended audio bitrate: 192+ Kbps.
- Recommended audio format: Audio sample rate 48 Khz.
- Recommended aspect ratio: 9:16 and 16:9.
- Recommended audio sample size: 16 or 24 bits.
- Recommended audio channels: Two (stereo).
- Recommended audio codec: PCM or AAC-LC.
- Recommended track conformance: File should contain only one video and one audio track.
- Recommended duration conformance: Video and audio track durations should match with tolerance of 500 ms.
Video policies
Video ads must follow the Microsoft Advertising Network policies.