Google announced some upcoming changes to its TrueView video ad formats, which will take effect on April 15th.

Google will actually be reducing the number of available TrueView formats from three to two. These will be TrueView in-stream and TrueView in-display. The existing in-search and in-display will be combined into the in-display format.

According to Google, one of the benefits of doing this is that it organizes TrueView around how a user interacts with the ad, such as by viewing it as a pre-roll video or clicking on a thumbnail, as opposed to where the ad appears. Another benefit is that it tells Google where advertisers want the ads to appear at the campaign level. The company says it will also deliver more relevant ads on the YouTube search page.

“Just as you can use in-stream ads to reach different demographics or audiences, now you can tailor in-display ads running on YouTube search pages to these same parameters, in addition to keywords,” says product manager Ryo Akasaka.

“Since its debut in 2010, the TrueView format has enabled advertisers to break free of time constraints, grow view count with opted-in views and only pay when people choose to watch their video ads,” Akasaka says. “Thanks to these benefits, TrueView advertising connects users with relevant ads, and empowers creators to monetize their content.”

While April 15th is the day all new video campaigns will use the new settings and formats, all campaigns will be automatically updated on May 15th.

Image via YouTube