Google announced today that it is now offering advertisers its TrueView in-stream video ad format for mobile devices.

TrueView ads are cost-per-view. Advertisers only pay when viewers actively select their videos or choose to continue watching them, once they’re first loaded while they browse content. The content has to be hosted on YouTube, but they can appear on both YouTube and other publisher sites in the Google Display Network.

“With TrueView, we’ve developed a model where user engagement matters — people can skip ads they aren’t interested in after five seconds,” says YouTube group product manager Phil Farhi. “Giving viewers choice over ads they watch has led to a better, more engaged viewing experience, benefiting the entire YouTube community of users, advertisers, and content creators. Advertisers only pay when someone chooses to watch the ad, so their budgets go toward the people most interested in what they have to say. ”

“Hundreds of our advertisers are experiencing ‘buy one, get one free’ — for every view they pay for, they’re earning another one through sharing,” Farhi says. “This is because after a user watches a video ad, they can stick around to watch more content from that brand, visit their website, or share the video with friends. Many of you are seeing this in action today – TRX, for example, saw the greatest ROI from their TrueView campaign during their busy season promotions.”

Google says brand recall improves when ads are run across TV, PC, phone and tablet screens. With that in mind, Google says the new offering will enable easier creation and management of multi-screen campaigns.

Settings can be managed from AdWords for Video.