Demand Gen, in-stream and Shorts ads that put your business in front of likely buyers on YouTube, Discover and Gmail, then win them back when they search. Run next to your search campaigns and judged by the leads and sales that follow, not by views.
“He's helped us pivot from traditional PPC to advertising on YouTube and so far, it's proven successful.”
Jasmine CueGlassHive★★★★★★★★★★
“Highly recommend using SmartSites for help on your ads. It's been great to clean up our account to create more efficiency and accurate tracking for each of our campaigns.”
YouTube ad specialists judged on leads, not views.
YouTube advertising pays off when it is planned as part of your whole Google Ads account, not as a separate awareness line. Our PPC analysts build Demand Gen, in-stream, Shorts and bumper campaigns around the audiences most likely to buy: people searching for what you sell, visitors to your site, your customer lists and lookalikes of your best customers. We fit the format to the job, run the footage you supply in the lengths and shapes each placement needs, set frequency caps and brand-safety exclusions, and bid on conversions wherever the data supports it. Google Display and YouTube basics are a standing step in our PPC onboarding, and our social team covers YouTube best practices for your channel, so the ads and the channel people click through to work together. Every campaign is reported in your Client Hub next to your search campaigns, with the site visits, calls, forms and sales that follow each view.
Every YouTube ad format, matched to the job it does best.
Demand Gen
Demand Gen runs your video and image ads across YouTube in-stream, in-feed and Shorts, plus Discover and Gmail, in one campaign aimed at people who look like your customers. It is the format most of our video budget runs through, because it can bid on conversions and pairs well with remarketing lists. Best for creating new demand and warming up past visitors. You see it in the PPC Performance report, with spend, clicks, conversions and cost per conversion next to search.
In-stream ads play before or during YouTube videos. Skippable ads can be skipped after 5 seconds, so you pay when someone watches 30 seconds (or the whole ad, if shorter) or clicks; non-skippable ads of up to 15 seconds deliver the full message and are bought per 1,000 impressions. Best for an offer or product that needs a story. Measured in PPC Performance, with the visits and conversions that follow in Website Performance.
Shorts ads appear between videos in the vertical Shorts feed on phones, served through Demand Gen or video campaigns. We run the vertical 9:16 videos you supply, ideally captioned and with the hook in the first seconds, where viewers decide whether to keep watching. Best for reaching mobile-first buyers. Measured in the Website Performance report: visits, engagement and conversions from GA4.
Visits and conversions from GA4 in the Website Performance report
Video views campaigns
Video views campaigns spread one budget across in-stream, in-feed and Shorts placements to get the most views for the money. We use them to build an audience of viewers cheaply, then follow up with Demand Gen, remarketing and search. Measured in PPC Performance, and in Search Console, where search impressions and clicks show whether more people look for you while your video runs.
Search impressions and clicks in the Google Search Console report
YouTube remarketing
YouTube remarketing shows your video to people who visited your site, watched your videos or are on your customer list, and leaves out people who already bought. These viewers already know you, which usually makes it the quickest video audience to turn into leads. Measured in Leads Overview, with every call and form tied to its campaign.
Every call, form and message with its source in Leads OverviewRemarketing
Bumper ads
Bumper ads are 6-second non-skippable ads bought per 1,000 impressions, made to repeat one message across many views at a low cost. They work as reminders next to a longer in-stream ad or Demand Gen campaign, not on their own. Measured by impressions and frequency in PPC Performance.
Impressions, clicks and cost for every campaign in PPC Performance
Video ads made for the feed, not for the skip button.
Spend and impressions sit next to the site visits, calls, forms and sales that follow, updated every day and explained in plain language.
PPC PerformanceSpend, impressions, clicks, conversions and cost per conversion for every video and search campaign, with the monthly trend.
Website PerformanceWhat viewers did after the ad: visits, engagement and conversions from GA4, in plain English.
Leads OverviewEvery call, form and message in one list, with the campaign behind it.
Google Search ConsoleSearch impressions and clicks, so you can see whether more people look for you while your video runs.
Phone CallsRecordings, AI call summaries and outcomes: booked, qualified, missed or vendor pitch.
Form SubmissionsVerified leads vs junk, with the source, campaign and UTM behind each one.
YouTube ads questions, answered
YouTube ads run in your Google Ads account, so they are covered by your Google Ads management fee, with free setup. Your ad spend is paid straight to Google, separate from our fee, and Google charges by format: per view on skippable ads (30 seconds watched, the whole ad if shorter, or a click), per 1,000 impressions for bumper and non-skippable ads, or per click or conversion with Demand Gen. Over the last 12 months, the median client account paid Google about $8 per 1,000 impressions and about $1.20 per click on YouTube, video and Demand Gen campaigns. Costs depend on the audience, format and season; see PPC management for what our fee covers.
Google sets no minimum for YouTube, but a campaign needs enough budget to learn which audiences respond. Our minimum ad budget is set by campaign type, not per platform: $1,500 a month for local campaigns and $2,500 a month for national or ecommerce, and most clients run YouTube inside that, next to a larger search budget. Across our clients over the last 12 months, the median account spent about $450 a month of its ad budget on YouTube, video and Demand Gen. We recommend a starting budget from your market, audience size and goals.
Ideally finished videos in the lengths and shapes each placement needs: 16:9 for in-stream, 9:16 for Shorts, square for in-feed and 6 seconds for bumpers, with captions and an end card, plus your logo, a few product or team photos and the offer you want to lead with. We don't shoot or edit video, so we run the footage you supply and test it across formats and audiences. If you have no video yet, Demand Gen can start with image ads, and if you need new designs, we offer ad creative packages.
A view-through conversion is someone who saw your ad without clicking and converted later. Google Ads reports them separately from click conversions, and we keep them that way: we judge campaigns first on click conversions, calls and sales, and read view-throughs as a sign of influence, not as leads. Your Client Hub also shows site visits, search clicks and leads over the same weeks, so you can see what changed while the video ran.
We set content suitability for every campaign: the inventory level, excluded content types and labels, and exclusions for topics, keywords and channels that don't fit your brand. We also review where your ads ran and add exclusions from those placement reports as the campaign runs.
They do different jobs. YouTube ads can be clicked, can bid on conversions and reach people on phones, computers and TVs, so they suit most businesses as a way to create demand and follow up with visitors. CTV puts a full-screen, unskippable spot on streaming apps such as Roku and Tubi on the TV itself, bought per 1,000 impressions, and suits brands that want TV-style reach in a set area. For streaming TV, see our CTV management page.
We are aware of active scams in India using the SmartSites brand name. We are not associated with these scams. SmartSites does not solicit employment over Telegram. All SmartSites employment is done via @smartsites.com emails. If you are being scammed over Telegram, please report it to abuse@telegram.org. The only website that represents the SmartSites brand is SmartSites.com.
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Jasmine CueGlassHive
Erin GutsteinAunt Flow
Sidney Castillospvparts.com
Roland CavellManahawkin Kia
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