YouTube has announced that after conducting “large-scale experiments,” it’s changing up the default engagement and conversion settings in its TrueView ad program.
Previously, users had to click an ad or watch at least 30 seconds of it to count as an engagement, and the default sale conversion window was 30 days.
Now, users only have to watch 10 seconds or more of an ad to count as an engagement, and the default conversion window has been moved from 30 days to just three days — meaning YouTube generally expects to see an interested viewer move from watching an ad to purchasing the advertised good or service within three days.
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Advertising partners will still be able to customize their engagement and conversion ranges, and for users who click on ads, the default conversion timeframe is still 30 days.
To develop the new ranges, YouTube’s looked at the “incremental conversion volume driven by TrueView for action ads across a broad range of advertiser industries and conversion types,” wrote YouTube group manager Nicky Rettke, who posted the announcement. Rettke also revealed that the platform’s ad data shows that 90% of consumers encounter new products and brands on YouTube.
Rettke added that YouTube doesn’t expect people to always take action on video ads in the moment. Instead, YouTube sees people research products before buying. “That video you saw on YouTube didn’t drive the click, but it planted the seed,” he explained.
