Google is bringing shopping adverts to YouTube’s homepage and search results, giving advertisers insight into users’ shopping intentions.

Google says that users are increasingly using video to decide what to buy during the holiday season, making it beneficial for advertisers to show shopping ads on YouTube:

‘Video has also become a favourite research tool for holiday shoppers. Nearly two-thirds of shoppers say online videos provide ideas and inspiration for their purchases. More than 90 percent of them said they discovered new products and brands through YouTube.’

YouTube users will now see visual shopping ads in the homepage stream and when searching. Shopping adverts will be customised to the interests of individual users.

Advertisers already using the standard Shopping Ads campaign are eligible to show their ads on YouTube as long as they opt-in to YouTube on the Display Advertising Network.

Other updates to YouTube and Shopping Ads

This update is yet another update to YouTube Ads and Shopping Ads. It was recently announced that extensions can now be displayed with YouTube video ads and can be customised with various call-to-action phrases.

In addition, Google has expanded Shopping Ads to 50 new markets and introduced new features for Merchant Center. For more information, see the story here.