YouTube's text fields are small because the video does the work — but the headline, description, and call-to-action still have hard caps that decide whether your overlay reads.
Video action and in-feed YouTube ads pair the video with short text fields: a headline, a longer headline, descriptions, and a call-to-action button. The limits are tight, so the copy is a prompt to act, not the message — that lives in the script.
| Field | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Long headline | 90 characters | Shown in in-feed and some action formats. |
| Headline | 15 characters | Very tight — essentially a label. |
| Description (each) | 70 characters | Up to 2 in many formats. |
| Call-to-action | 10 characters | Button text — “Shop now,” “Sign up.” |
Long headlines allow 90 characters, the short headline only 15, descriptions 70 each, and the call-to-action button 10. The video script carries the message; the text is a prompt to act.