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YouTube Ads Analysis Skill

byAgriciDaniel5KGitHub starsGitHub

Analyze YouTube ad campaign performance across various formats, including Skippable In-Stream, Shorts, and Connected TV. Get actionable insights to optimize creative quality, targeting, and measurement strategies for better results.

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Result preview

Full Demo

Explore a real YouTube Ads optimization report powered by this Skill.

Get started

Run Your First Task

  1. the process of installing
    01

    Install

    Add the YouTube Ads Skill to your AI agent.

  2. the process of analyzing ads
    02

    Analyze Ads

    Paste a YouTube ad URL and request a performance analysis.

  3. review insights
    03

    Review Insights

    Get actionable optimization recommendations to improve ads performance.

Install command

$ npx skills add https://github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-ads/tree/main/skills/ads-youtube

About

The YouTube Ads Analysis skill provides a comprehensive evaluation of your YouTube advertising campaigns, helping marketers and advertisers optimize their video ad performance. By analyzing various campaign types, creative quality, audience targeting, and measurement strategies, this skill delivers actionable insights to improve your return on investment on the world's largest video platform. It's designed to help you understand what's working, what's not, and how to make data-driven decisions to enhance your YouTube ad strategy.

This skill delves into the specifics of each YouTube ad format, from Skippable In-Stream and Non-Skippable ads to the rapidly growing YouTube Shorts and Connected TV (CTV) placements. It offers detailed assessments of creative elements, including the crucial first 5 seconds of a video, production quality, and the strategic use of vertical formats for Shorts. Furthermore, it guides users through effective audience targeting options, remarketing setups, and the nuances of frequency management to ensure your message reaches the right viewers at the optimal cadence.

Beyond campaign setup and creative, the YouTube Ads Analysis skill provides critical insights into measurement and attribution, addressing benchmarks for key metrics like view rate and CPV, and highlighting the importance of view-through conversions. It also tackles the unique challenges of CTV measurement, offering alternative tracking methods where traditional solutions fall short. The skill culminates in a weighted health score and a list of 'Quick Wins,' enabling users to implement immediate improvements and drive better results from their YouTube advertising efforts.

Key features

What makes it powerful

  • Comprehensive Campaign Type Assessment

    Evaluates performance across all major YouTube ad formats, including Skippable In-Stream, Non-Skippable, Bumper, Shorts, Demand Gen, and Connected TV (CTV) ads, providing tailored insights for each.

  • In-depth Creative Quality Analysis

    Assesses video ad creatives based on critical factors like hook effectiveness (first 5 seconds), production quality (audio, visual, subtitles), and creative volume, leveraging the ABCD framework for optimal engagement.

  • Strategic Audience Targeting Evaluation

    Reviews YouTube-specific targeting options such as Custom Intent, In-Market, Affinity, Customer Match, and Placement targeting, along with remarketing setups and frequency management strategies.

  • Detailed Measurement and Attribution Insights

    Analyzes key YouTube metrics, provides benchmarks, and offers guidance on attribution considerations, including view-through conversions, data-driven attribution, and CTV measurement challenges.

  • Actionable Health Score and Quick Wins

    Generates a weighted health score for YouTube Ads performance and identifies immediate 'quick wins' to improve campaign effectiveness, covering areas like Demand Gen migration and vertical creative optimization.

Use cases

When to reach for it

  • Optimize Existing YouTube Ad Campaigns

    Advertisers can use this skill to analyze current YouTube ad performance, identify underperforming areas, and receive recommendations to enhance campaign setup, creative, and targeting for better ROI.

  • Develop High-Performing YouTube Shorts Ads

    Marketers can leverage the Shorts-specific creative requirements and hook templates to design authentic, mobile-first video ads that resonate with younger demographics and drive higher conversions.

  • Improve Connected TV (CTV) Advertising Strategy

    Businesses can assess their CTV ad creatives for TV screen viewing, understand shoppable CTV capabilities, and address critical measurement limitations to accurately track performance on the fastest-growing YouTube surface.

  • Transition from Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen

    Users can ensure a smooth migration from deprecated Video Action Campaigns (VAC) to Demand Gen, optimizing for multi-format assets (video + image) and understanding the implications for frequency capping.

SKILL.md

YouTube Ads Analysis

Process

  1. Collect YouTube Ads data (Google Ads export filtered to Video campaigns)
  2. Read ads/references/google-audit.md for YouTube-relevant checks (incl. G-DG1 through G-DG3, G-CTV1)
  3. Read ads/references/platform-specs.md for video specifications
  4. Read ads/references/benchmarks.md for YouTube benchmarks
  5. Read ads/references/scoring-system.md for health score algorithm
  6. Validate: confirm at least one active video campaign exists before proceeding
  7. Check: flag any remaining Video Action Campaigns (VAC). All auto-upgraded to Demand Gen by April 2026
  8. Evaluate campaign setup, creative quality, targeting, and measurement
  9. Validate: verify all campaign types identified before generating report
  10. Generate YouTube-specific findings report with health score

Campaign Types Assessment

YT-01: Skippable In-Stream (TrueView)

  • Length: 12s minimum, 15-30s recommended (can be longer)
  • Bidding: Target CPV or Target CPA
  • Skip rate benchmark: 65-80% is normal
  • View rate: ≥15% is good
  • Evaluate: hook quality in first 5 seconds, CTA card usage

YT-02: Non-Skippable In-Stream

  • Length: up to 60s (expanded 2025; previously 15s/20s)
  • Bidding: Target CPM
  • Best for: brand awareness, reach campaigns
  • Evaluate: message completeness, frequency capping, optimal length testing

YT-03: Bumper Ads

  • Length: exactly 6s (non-skippable)
  • Bidding: Target CPM
  • Best for: reach extension, brand reinforcement
  • Evaluate: single-message focus, brand visibility throughout

YT-04: YouTube Shorts Ads

  • Format: vertical 9:16 (1080x1920 recommended)
  • Length: up to 60s, sound-on required
  • Music/voiceover increases conversions by over 20%
  • CTA button appears at 3 seconds for PMax/App/Demand Gen, 10 seconds for Video View/Reach
  • Top-performing Shorts ads feel organic, authentic, and creator-like
  • YouTube Select Shorts lineups deliver 90% longer viewing vs competitor platforms (MediaScience data)
  • Placement exclusions for Shorts only work at account level (not campaign/ad group)
  • Best for: younger demographics, mobile-first, action campaigns

YT-05: Demand Gen (fully replaced Video Action Campaigns, April 2026)

  • All VACs auto-upgraded to Demand Gen by April 2026. Flag any remaining VAC campaigns as deprecated
  • Placements: YouTube Home Feed, Watch Next, Discover, Gmail, Google Display Network (with channel controls)
  • Multi-format critical: advertisers uploading both video AND image assets see 20% more conversions at same CPA vs video-only (G-DG1 check)
  • DoorDash case study: 15x higher conversion rate, 50% lower CPA vs VAC
  • Major limitation: frequency capping is NOT supported in Demand Gen. Significant loss from VAC. Only workaround: Video Frequency Groups (alpha). Flag former VAC campaigns that relied on frequency caps (G-DG3 check)
  • Evaluate: creative diversity (video + image), product feed quality, audience signals, frequency monitoring

Connected TV (CTV)

  • YouTube's fastest-growing surface: ~150 million Americans watching on TV screens
  • 75% of YouTube ad spend now on CTV (Brandcast 2025)
  • 30-second non-skippable ads available exclusively on CTV
  • Co-viewing metrics rolled out globally for comparison with linear TV
  • Shoppable CTV (2026): uses Merchant Center feeds with QR codes
  • Critical limitation: Floodlight conversion measurement DOES NOT work on CTV devices (G-CTV1 check). Use Google Ads conversion tracking or GA4 instead
  • Evaluate: CTV-specific creative (larger text, simpler visuals for TV viewing distance), QR code shoppability, measurement strategy

Creative Quality Assessment

YT-06: Hook Analysis (First 5 Seconds)

  • Does the video capture attention immediately?
  • Brand mention within first 5 seconds (recommended for awareness)
  • Problem/benefit statement upfront (recommended for action campaigns)
  • No slow intros, title cards, or logos-only openings
  • ABCD framework: Attention (hook immediately) → Branding (show up early) → Connection (humanize) → Direction (explicit CTA). Ads following ABCDs deliver 30% lift in short-term sales likelihood and 17% lift in long-term brand contribution (Google/Kantar)

YT-07: Production Quality

  • Audio quality: clear, professional, background music appropriate
  • Visual quality: HD minimum (1080p), proper lighting
  • Subtitles/captions: present (85% of Facebook video watched muted, ~30% on YouTube)
  • End screen: CTA, subscribe button, related video cards

YT-08: Creative Volume

  • ≥3 video variations per campaign (different hooks, lengths, messages)
  • Mix of lengths tested (6s bumper + 15-60s non-skip + 30s skippable)
  • Vertical (9:16) and horizontal (16:9) versions available (YT-09)
  • Refresh cadence: every 4-8 weeks for top-performing campaigns

Audience Targeting

YT-10: YouTube-Specific Targeting Options

  • Custom Intent: target users searching for specific terms on YouTube/Google
  • In-Market Audiences: users actively researching purchase categories
  • Affinity Audiences: broad interest-based targeting for awareness
  • Customer Match: first-party list upload for retargeting
  • Similar Audiences: expansion from Customer Match seeds (if available)
  • Placement Targeting: specific channels, videos, or topics

YT-11: Remarketing Setup

  • Separate campaigns for prospecting vs retargeting
  • Layer audience signals in Demand Gen campaigns
  • Exclude converted users from prospecting campaigns

YT-12: Frequency Management

  • Use frequency capping (3-5 per week for awareness, 1-2 for direct response). For Target Frequency campaigns, set up to 4/week. 95%+ of campaigns achieved their goals. Nielsen MMM: brands can increase frequency from 1 to 3/week with consistent ROI
  • Triscuit case study: Target frequency 2/week = 93% higher absolute ad recall lift at 40% cheaper cost per lifted user
  • Note: Demand Gen does NOT support frequency capping. DV360 lifetime frequency caps deprecated after Feb 28, 2025 (max period now 30 days)

Measurement

YT-13: Key YouTube Metrics

MetricBenchmarkNotes
View Rate (skippable)≥15%Higher = better hook
CPV (skippable)$0.01-0.10Varies by targeting
VTR (bumper)90%+Non-skippable, should be near 100%
CPM (non-skip)$6-15Varies by market
CTR (Demand Gen)≥0.5%Image+video combined
Brand LiftMeasurableRequires Google Brand Lift Study

YT-13 (continued): Attribution Considerations

  • YouTube is upper/mid-funnel; don't judge by last-click alone
  • Use data-driven attribution in Google Ads
  • Track view-through conversions (important for video)
  • Consider Brand Lift Studies for awareness campaigns (YT-14)
  • Cross-channel impact: YouTube often assists Search/Shopping conversions

YT-15: CTV Measurement

  • Critical: Floodlight conversion measurement does NOT work on CTV devices (G-CTV1 check)
  • Use Google Ads conversion tracking or GA4 for CTV attribution
  • Co-viewing metrics available globally for comparison with linear TV
  • CTV Brand Lift studies recommended for awareness campaigns on TV screens

Health Score

YouTube Ads Health Score (0-100)

Weighted assessment from ads/references/scoring-system.md:

Category Weights:
Creative Quality:   30%  ██████████
Campaign Setup:     25%  ████████░░
Audience Targeting: 25%  ████████░░
Measurement:        20%  ██████░░░░

Grade: A (90-100), B (75-89), C (60-74), D (40-59), F (<40)

Shorts Hook Template

High-performing Shorts ad pattern:

  1. Problem identification (0-2s): Open with a relatable pain point or attention-grabbing question
  2. Product reveal (2-5s): Show the product/solution in context
  3. CTA with urgency (final 2s): Clear next step with time or quantity pressure

Quick Wins

CheckFixTime
YT-05: Demand Gen migrationUpgrade remaining VACs to Demand Gen with video+image15 min
YT-04: Shorts verticalCreate 9:16 vertical cuts of existing ads10 min
YT-09: Add image assetsUpload image assets to Demand Gen (20% more conversions)10 min
YT-12: Frequency monitoringSet Target Frequency to 4/week for awareness campaigns5 min

Output

YouTube Ads Report

YouTube Ads Assessment

Campaign Types:     ████████░░  Active formats evaluated
Creative Quality:   ██████████  Hook, production, volume
Audience Targeting: ███████░░░  Strategy and coverage
Measurement:        █████░░░░░  Attribution and tracking

Deliverables

  • YOUTUBE-ADS-REPORT.md: Campaign-by-campaign analysis
  • Creative quality scorecard per video
  • Audience strategy recommendations
  • Measurement gap analysis
  • Quick Wins for immediate improvement

Deprecated (v1.5)

  • Video Action Campaigns: Fully deprecated April 2026, replaced by Demand Gen
  • Overlay ads: Discontinued April 6, 2023
  • Rule-based attribution (first click, linear, time decay, position-based): All auto-upgraded to DDA
  • DV360 lifetime frequency caps: Max period now 30 days (changed Feb 28, 2025)

FAQ