Additionally, YouTube on Thursday announced that partnership ads—which allow brands to turn YouTube creator videos into paid ads, with built-in targeting capabilities—are being added as an offering within Google Display & Video 360. 

The slate of new product features underscores the company’s focus on driving more content monetization by facilitating brand-creator partnerships. 

“We want to help brands find and partner with the right creators for their campaigns and measure the outcomes for what they are building together,” Hsieh Nikolic said.

The NewFronts presented an ideal moment to make the new product announcements, Hsieh Nikolic said, because it’s an opportunity to pitch social media buyers.

With more than 2.53 billion monthly active users, YouTube is becoming an increasingly valuable part of many brands’ marketing mixes. And the company’s advertising business is booming; in the first quarter, Google recorded $8.93 billion in ad sales from YouTube.

Aided by the explosion of its short-form video product, Shorts, the platform is also cementing itself as a stronghold for creators as TikTok’s fate in the U.S. remains in question.