Free tool · YouTube Shorts
YouTube Shorts ad checker: free AI check of your ad
Upload a Shorts ad or paste its YouTube link and in about a minute you get a score range out of 100, a review of the first 3 seconds and a list of what was measured. For Shorts the check treats up to 60 seconds as normal and warns up to 180 seconds, the same as the 3 minutes YouTube allows for a Short. Google recommends vertical video for Shorts, and the check expects 9:16. It is free, up to 5 a day, and it is not an approval from YouTube.
Check a YouTube Shorts ad
YouTube Shorts is already selected. Add the country and the age of your audience.
Reviewing your video
Waiting in line
- Uploading the video
- Downloading the video
- Compressing and splitting into scenes
- Measuring the sound
- Recognising speech
- Looking at the frames
- The expert model is reviewing the script
- Calculating the score
Free, no sign-up: up to 5 checks a day, a file up to 100 MB and 180 seconds, or a link to a public post. Without an account the video and the report are deleted after 7 days.
What the check does with a YouTube Shorts ad
Most of the check is the same on every platform: the hook, the story, the offer, the delivery, the picture and the sound. The platform changes the points below.
| Check | How it works for YouTube Shorts |
|---|---|
| Length | Normal from 9 to 60 seconds. Shorter than that, or up to 180 seconds, is a warning; longer than 180 seconds is a failure. A minor issue in the score. YouTube’s help page says Shorts can be up to 3 minutes. That page is about Shorts in general, not about ads. The warning range of the check ends at the same line, and up to 60 seconds is normal. |
| Format | A vertical 9:16 video passes. 4:5 / 3:4 is a warning. Square or landscape video fails and counts as a critical issue, because the check is built for vertical ads. |
| Resolution | A shorter side of at least 720 px passes, at least 540 px is a warning, less fails. |
| First 3 seconds | The check measures when the product first appears on screen and judges whether the opening gives a reason to keep watching. It also looks for on-screen text for viewers with the sound off. |
| Sound | It measures whether there is an audio track, the loudness, clipping, background noise and unclear speech, and checks for subtitles when someone speaks. |
| Text position | On-screen text in the top 12%, the bottom 30% or the right 15% of the frame is flagged. These are one fixed set of margins for every platform. For the margins a platform publishes itself, use the safe zone tool. |
| Watermarks | A burned-in logo of another platform or of an editing app is flagged. Reposts are the usual cause. A clip downloaded from another app with its logo and username on it is flagged as a foreign mark, and so is the end card of an editor. |
| Claims and rules | A model reads the ad against the ad rules of the platform you select and flags clear cases, with a quote as evidence. It is a warning, not an approval by the platform. Google’s requirements for YouTube ads do not allow exaggerated or inaccurate claims. The check flags clear cases with a quote, such as guaranteed results, unproven superlatives and weight-loss promises. |
| Setting in the form | YouTube Shorts. Choose it in the list, or paste a youtube.com or youtu.be link and the list switches to it. |
What YouTube Shorts says, and what the check does about it
These are statements from the platform’s own pages, with the source. Next to each is the part of our check that relates to it.
| The platform says | In the check |
|---|---|
| YouTube Help: Shorts can be up to 3 minutes long.1 | Up to 60 seconds is normal for the check, up to 180 seconds is a warning, and a longer video fails the length check. The issue is minor. |
| Google Ads Help: vertical video is best suited for the Shorts format and performs better than landscape assets.2 | A vertical 9:16 file passes. Landscape fails the format check, and that is a critical issue. |
| Google Ads Help: square video is still recommended for App, Demand Gen and Performance Max campaigns.2 | The check is built for vertical ads, so a square video gets a format failure. If your campaign needs a square asset, read that finding as expected and not as a defect. |
| Google’s requirements for YouTube ads: ads with exaggerated or inaccurate claims about a product or service, or that mislead users, are not allowed.3 | The claims criterion flags clear cases with a quote. It cannot see your landing page or your Google Ads account. |
Limits of the free check
- Up to 5 free checks a day, counted for your browser, your account and your network together.
- A file up to 100 MB and 180 seconds, and at least 3 seconds. Or a link to a public post on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, Snapchat or Facebook.
- The score is a range 20 points wide. The free check measures all 19 measurable criteria and reads 12 of the 41 that are judged by a model. It does not list the issues or the fixes.
- Only advertising videos are scored. A clip that promotes nothing is not reviewed.
- Google sign-in, needed for the full review, does not work inside the Instagram, TikTok or Facebook apps. Open the page in Safari or Chrome.
What the full review adds
- The exact score, and a score for each of the six categories.
- Every issue with the evidence, a timecode and a fix for this video, and a list of fixes in order of priority.
- All 60 criteria, where the free check reads 19 measured ones and 12 judged ones.
- Curves of delivery and story along the video, the risk of being scrolled past and the strengths to keep.
Sign in with Google and your first full review is free. After that a pack of 10 full reviews costs $19, about $1.90 each, and larger packs cost less per review.
Your video and privacy
Unlike our safe zone and requirements tools, which run in your browser, the ad check uploads your video for analysis. Without an account the video and the report are deleted after 7 days. In an account the report stays until you delete it, and a lightweight copy of the video is kept for up to 6 months. We do not sell videos, do not share them except with the processors needed for the analysis and do not use them to train models. Privacy policy
Questions about the YouTube Shorts check
How long can a YouTube Shorts ad be, and what is normal for the check?
YouTube’s help page says Shorts can be up to 3 minutes. It describes Shorts in general, and we did not find a separate length rule for Shorts ads in the pages we read. The check treats up to 60 seconds as normal, warns up to 180 seconds and flags longer videos.
Can I check a square or horizontal YouTube ad?
You can, but the check is built for vertical ads: 9:16 passes, 4:5 / 3:4 is a warning, and square or landscape video fails the format check. Google recommends vertical video for Shorts and square for some other campaign types, so read the format finding with your campaign in mind and use the others as they are.
Does the checker know YouTube’s ad policies?
It reads the ad against the usual ad rules of the platform you select and flags clear cases, with a quote. Google’s requirements for YouTube ads do not allow exaggerated or inaccurate claims, and that is the part the check can look for. It does not read Google’s policy text live and does not replace Google’s review.
Is the YouTube Shorts ad check free?
The preliminary check is free, with no sign-up, up to 5 a day. The full review uses a full check from your account: the first one is free when you sign in with Google, then a pack of 10 costs $19.
Is my video kept or used for training?
The video is uploaded for the analysis and deleted after 7 days if you have no account. We do not sell it, do not share it beyond the processors needed for the analysis and do not use it to train models.
Related tools and pages
YouTube Shorts safe zones
Overlay the platform’s interface on your own video and download PNG templates, with the platform’s own margins.
Video requirements and file checker
Length, size, resolution and sound that marketplaces accept, checked in your browser.
TikTok
How the check reads a TikTok ad, what TikTok says about the first seconds, sound and claims.
Instagram Reels
Reels ads and the check: format, length, the safe zone and the single call to action.
Facebook
Facebook video ads are checked as Reels. What that means, and what the check cannot tell you.
The full check page
A sample report, a before-and-after story and the packs of full reviews.
Check ads from Claude or ChatGPT
The same check as a connector, and an extension for Chrome.
Free AI video ad checker
All platforms in one place.
Sources
Quotes are in the language of the source. We read only pages that are public.
- Google / YouTube: YouTube Help: Understand three-minute YouTube Shorts, checked on October 29, 2026
You can now create YouTube Shorts up to three minutes in length.
- Google: Google Ads Help: Use square and vertical video to engage mobile customers, checked on October 29, 2026
Vertical videos, with a 9:16 aspect ratio, are best suited for the Shorts format and deliver better performance compared to landscape assets.
Square videos are still recommended for App, Demand Gen and Performance Max campaigns.
- Google: Google Ads Policy Help: About YouTube and Discover Feed ad requirements, checked on October 29, 2026
Ads containing exaggerated or inaccurate claims about a product or service, or that mislead users are not allowed.
This page is written by Quelta, which makes the ad check. The statements about the platforms come from their own pages; the statements about the check come from its code.
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