YouTube audio ads: specs, length, and the 2026 US change

YouTube audio ads are creatives of up to 30 seconds, and the creative you pick is a YouTube video, not an audio file: Google's video spec page says YouTube can't accept MP3, WAV, or PCM files. Starting September 1, 2026, YouTube audio ads that target audiences in the United States are available only through Pandora and SiriusXM.

Google's rules are quoted from its Display & Video 360 page Create YouTube audio line items and the Google Ads page About video ad specs, read on 2026-09-29; Google can change them. Sume facts come from the Timeline 1.0 docs.

What is a YouTube audio ad?

Google says YouTube audio ads run during long listening sessions and backgrounded moments, run as creatives up to 30 seconds, and use CPM bidding. In Display & Video 360 you build one as a “YouTube & partners audio” line item, then pick a YouTube video as the creative; the video must be 30 seconds or less.

What changed for YouTube audio ads in the US?

Google's page says: “Starting September 1, 2026, YouTube audio ads targeting audiences in the United States are available exclusively through Pandora and SiriusXM.” Advertisers who want to run them in the US are told to contact Pandora and SiriusXM to set up a campaign.

For those campaigns, the delivery spec is whatever Pandora and SiriusXM ask for. SiriusXM Media's streaming audio ad specs page asks for an MP3 at 44.1 kHz in 10-, 15-, or 30-second lengths with a 300x250 companion banner, but it does not say whether those rules cover YouTube audio ads sold through it, so confirm with your rep. Audio ad specs compares sellers side by side.

What file do I upload for a YouTube audio ad?

When you buy through Google, the creative is a normal YouTube video that carries the spot's sound, for example a single picture held under the audio. Google's page of specs for all YouTube formats and campaign types lists:

How do I turn an audio spot into a YouTube video?

Hold one still under the spot in a single Timeline 1.0 render: the spot is the audio spine, the picture is the only video[] slot, and audio.duration_seconds sets the output length, so set it to the spot's length, 30 seconds or less. output takes even sizes from 256 to 2160, which covers 1920×1080. How to convert MP3 to MP4 with an image has the full request and the fit options.

Every URL must already be your workspace's media.sume.com file, such as an earlier Sume job's output; the render rejects other hosts. AI radio commercial generator shows how to make the voice and music spot itself.

The render costs $0.10 per output minute, plus a 5.5% agent fee by default. The docs reserve ceil(audio.duration_seconds / 60) minutes, so a 30-second spot is billed as one minute.