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YouTube Skippable In-Stream Ad Character Limits
YouTube skippable in-stream ads use a companion banner: long headline ~45 chars visible, description ~60. Skip enables after 5s.
YouTube Skippable In-Stream Ads run before, during, or after host video content. The video itself does the heavy lifting — text on the ad lives in the companion banner that renders below the video player on mobile. The companion banner pulls a long headline (90 chars max, ~45 visible) and description (70 chars max, ~60 visible) from the underlying Google Ads asset bundle. The skip button enables after exactly 5 seconds of playback and lives in the bottom-right corner of the player.
The most expensive mistake on Skippable In-Stream is treating the companion banner as decoration. The companion stays visible for the entire ad duration on mobile and persists for several seconds after the video ends — so the headline and description are doing real work for click-through. Plan the companion text as if it were the only thing the viewer reads.
Skip arrives after 5 seconds
60-char companion description
Up next: organic video
Verified 2026 limits
| Field | Hard max | Visible before truncate | Warn at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long headline | 90 | 45 | 40 |
| Description | 70 | 60 | 50 |
Source: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2375464 · Last verified 2026-04-15.
What changed in 2026
YouTube extended the long-headline visible window from 40 to 45 characters in 2026 on iPhone 14-class devices but kept the hard cap at 90. The description hard cap moved from 60 to 70 characters in the same update.
FAQ
- How long can a YouTube Skippable In-Stream ad be?
- Up to 3 minutes total runtime. Skip enables at 5 seconds; everything past 30 seconds is billed differently.
- Where does the companion banner appear?
- Below the video player on mobile, alongside the player on desktop. Persists for the duration of the ad plus a few seconds after.
- Does YouTube charge for skipped views?
- No. CPV billing only triggers on 30+ second views or any click on the companion banner.