YouTube Brain

Masthead and Reservation Buying

3 min read

Masthead and Reservation Buying

The YouTube Masthead is the platform’s premium reach format: a native, video-based ad at the top of the Home feed, sold on a reservation basis rather than through the open auction that governs most formats in Ad Formats and Ad Campaign Types. It exists for moments when a brand wants guaranteed, large-scale visibility on a single day, such as a launch, rather than efficient performance.

What the Masthead is

The Masthead renders responsively across desktop, mobile, tablet, and TV screens, autoplaying muted at the top of the Home feed. Because it sits on the first surface a signed-in viewer sees, it delivers mass awareness quickly, which is why it is bought as a reservation with predictable volume instead of bid by bid. It is a reach instrument, not a direct-response one, and is measured with the awareness tools in Ad Measurement.

CPM versus CPH

There are two reservation buys:

  • CPM Masthead: a reserved buy with a fixed impression volume at a cost per thousand impressions. You are billed only for impressions actually delivered.
  • CPH Masthead: a cost-per-hour buy that secures 100 percent share of voice on the Masthead during the reserved hours, sold only through a Google representative.

CPM is the more accessible of the two; CPH is for total-ownership moments.

How it is bought

CPM Masthead is available globally through a Google representative, through YouTube Programmatic Guaranteed (instant deals), or through Google Ads Reservation, where you create a campaign, choose Reservation, and select Masthead under brand awareness and reach. Accounts usually must be allowlisted by a Google representative or account manager before they can reserve. Rates vary by market, and a campaign targets one country at a time, with targeting-based upcharges on top of the fixed CPM.

Shoppable Masthead

A Masthead with a product feed adds mobile shoppability, letting viewers browse products directly from the unit. This ties the format to a catalog and to the same product-feed mechanics behind YouTube Shopping and Product Tagging, turning a pure awareness placement into a browsable storefront.

How to apply

  • Reserve a Masthead for a specific high-visibility moment, not for ongoing performance; use auction formats for the latter.
  • Choose CPM for predictable reach and CPH only when you need total share of voice for a defined window.
  • Start the allowlisting and reservation process early through your Google rep, since it is not self-serve.
  • Pair the buy with a Brand Lift study in Ad Measurement to prove the awareness it bought.

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