Create a companion banner for a video ad

A companion banner appears next to your video ad on YouTube. You can either upload a custom image for the banner, or allow Google Ads to generate an image from your YouTube channel banner. In this article, you'll learn how to create a companion banner in Google Ads.

Things to know

• Skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads and bumper ads support companion banners.
• Companion banners only show on desktop. They don't appear on mobile devices, connected TVs or other devices that support YouTube.
• Companion banners appear next to the ad on the YouTube watch page. When a viewer clicks on the companion banner, they'll go to a website URL that you provided when creating the campaign.
• A click on the companion banner counts as a view, even if the viewer doesn't watch at least 30 seconds of the ad.

Companion banner specs

When you create a video ad, we recommend automatically generating an image from your YouTube channel banner instead of uploading a custom image.

If you want to upload an image for the companion banner, make sure that the image follows our requirements and specifications:

File types: JPEG, GIF or PNG	Resolution: 300px x 60px	GIF frame rate: Less than 5 frames per second	Maximum size: 150 KB

Instructions

1. In your Google Ads account, Create a video campaign.
2. Enter the settings for your campaign and ad group. After you enter the YouTube URL for your ad, the 'Companion banner (computers only)' section appears.
   
3. Choose how you want to customise your companion banner.
   • Autogenerate using your channel banner (recommended): Google Ads generates a companion banner from your YouTube channel banner.
   • Upload an image: Use a custom image from your computer. You can't upload images that don't meet our specifications.
4. When you finish, click Create campaign. When your ad shows on desktop, your companion banner will appear next to it.