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How to Cite an Advertisement in APA 7

APA 7 has no separate format for advertisements, so you cite an ad the way you'd cite the kind of work you found it in. The reference lists the company or organization behind the ad as the author, the date in parentheses, the ad's title or headline in sentence case, a label in square brackets ([Video] for a video ad, [Advertisement] for a print or web ad), and where you found it, ending with the URL. The in-text citation is the author and the year: (Google, 2009).

The format

Company or Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title or headline of the ad [Advertisement]. Site Name. https://xxxx

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 22, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Found the ad on YouTube? Paste the video's link into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA fills in the channel, the title, the upload date, YouTube as the platform, and the URL, and the reference comes out with [Video] in place, hanging indent and all.

Then check the details it brought in against the video page. An organization's channel can come in with its abbreviation attached, like Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If it does, change the role to Group or Organization, type the full name, and put CDC in the Abbrev. box, so the abbreviation shows up in your citations and stays out of the reference. Make sure the title keeps its capital letters in names, initials, and campaign names (Terrie H., Tips From Former Smokers), and that the date matches the upload date YouTube shows.

Found a print ad as a PDF on a website? Paste that link in too. A PDF ad can come in as Gray Literature, with the advertiser as the group author and the ad's headline as the title. Type Advertisement in the Format or Type box, and PERRLA adds [Advertisement] after the title. If the ad shows no date, leave the date blank, and PERRLA prints n.d.

Choosing a type by hand? In an APA 7 paper, PERRLA's Advertisement type points you to the ad's parent source, because APA 7 has no ad format of its own: Webpage, Magazine, Newspaper, Television, Journal, or Podcasts & Radio. For a video ad, choose Videos (online). For an ad in a magazine or newspaper, choose that type, type the ad's headline in Article Title, and add [Advertisement] at the end of it.

Look up
Paste a YouTube link, get the reference

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, March 15). CDC: Tips From Former Smokers - Terrie H.’s tip ad [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zWB4dLYChM

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Author

The author is the company or organization that ran the ad, usually the brand or group named in it. Spell out an organization's full name. For an ad posted online, the author is the account that posted it, which for most ads is the advertiser's own channel or website.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Don't credit the person who appears in the ad or the agency that produced it. Terrie Hall tells her story in the CDC ad below, but the CDC ran the ad and posted it, so the CDC is the author. Save an abbreviation like CDC for your in-text citations: it never goes in the reference.

2. Date

Give the date of the version you saw, in parentheses. A video ad on YouTube takes its full upload date. A print ad in a magazine or newspaper takes the issue's date. An ad with no date at all takes (n.d.).

(2009, November 19).

Use the date the copy you watched was posted, not the date the ad aired on TV. Google posted "Parisian Love" on YouTube in November 2009, months before it ran during the Super Bowl in February 2010, so the reference uses 2009.

3. Title

Use the ad's title. If it has no title, use its headline or main line of text. Write it in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns, even when the ad prints its headline in all capitals.

Record your voice for loved ones while you still can

Italicize the title when the ad stands on its own, like a video or a PDF. Don't italicize it when the ad is part of a magazine or newspaper: there, the publication's name takes the italics.

4. Description in brackets

Right after the title, add a short label in square brackets that tells readers what kind of work it is. Video ads on YouTube take [Video], the label APA uses for every online video. Print and web ads take [Advertisement]. The label isn't italicized.

[Advertisement].

5. Source

Name where you found the ad. For a video, that's the site it's on, like YouTube. For a print ad, it's the magazine or newspaper in italics, then the magazine's volume and issue and the page the ad is on. A newspaper ad usually gets just the page. For an ad on the advertiser's own website, leave the site name out when it matches the author.

YouTube.

6. URL

End with the link to the ad itself, not to the page that lists it or to a search result. Don't put a period after it, and don't write "Retrieved from" in front of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU

A print ad you saw in a physical magazine or newspaper ends after the page number, with no URL.

Examples

A video ad posted by an organization

The CDC TV ad from the Tips From Former Smokers campaign in which Terrie Hall gets ready for the day after throat cancer treatment, posted on the CDC's YouTube channel. The campaign name keeps its capitals because it's a proper noun. The timestamp in the citation points to a moment in the ad.

  • Parenthetical citation(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012, 0:12)
  • Narrative citationCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2012, 0:12)
  • Later citations(CDC, 2012, 0:12)

A TV commercial posted on the company's channel

Google's "Parisian Love" ad, told entirely through search boxes, which ran during the Super Bowl in February 2010. Cite the copy on Google's YouTube channel, with the date it was posted there.

  • Parenthetical citation(Google, 2009)
  • Narrative citationGoogle (2009)

A Tips From Former Smokers print ad featuring Terrie Hall, posted as a PDF on the CDC's Print Ads page. The ad has no title, so its headline becomes the title, in sentence case. Neither the ad nor the PDF gives a date, so the reference takes n.d.

  • Parenthetical citation(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.)
  • Narrative citationCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, n.d.)
  • Later citations(CDC, n.d.)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for an ad gives the author from the reference and the year. Videos have no page numbers, so add a timestamp when you quote a line from a video ad or point to one moment in it.

  • A company: (Google, 2009) or Google (2009)
  • An organization with an abbreviation: spell the name out the first time with the abbreviation in square brackets, then use the abbreviation: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012), then (CDC, 2012). In a narrative citation it's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2012), then CDC (2012).
  • A moment in a video ad: add the timestamp where it starts: (CDC, 2012, 0:12)
  • An ad with no date: use n.d. in place of the year: (CDC, n.d.)
  • Someone who appears in the ad: name them in your sentence and cite the ad: Terrie Hall showed how she gets ready each morning after throat cancer treatment (CDC, 2012).

Spell out the organization's name with its abbreviation only once in your paper, the first time you cite it, even when you cite two of its ads.

Common mistakes

  • Hall, T. (2012, March 15). CDC: Tips From Former Smokers - Terrie H.’s tip ad [Video]. YouTube.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, March 15). CDC: Tips From Former Smokers - Terrie H.’s tip ad [Video]. YouTube.The person in the ad isn't its author. The organization that ran and posted the ad is. Name the person in your sentence instead.
  • Google. (2010, February 7). Parisian love [Video]. YouTube.Google. (2009, November 19). Parisian love [Video]. YouTube.Cite the copy you watched, with the date it was posted. The date the ad aired on TV belongs in your sentence if it matters.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2012, March 15).Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, March 15).A group author's abbreviation never goes in the reference, even when the channel name includes it. Use it in your in-text citations.
  • RECORD YOUR VOICE FOR LOVED ONES WHILE YOU STILL CAN.Record your voice for loved ones while you still can [Advertisement].Ads print headlines in capitals to grab attention. The reference puts the headline in sentence case and adds a label so readers know it's an ad.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026, April 14). Record your voice for loved ones while you still can [Advertisement].Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Record your voice for loved ones while you still can [Advertisement].The "Last Reviewed" date on the page that lists the ad isn't the ad's date. When the ad itself has no date, write n.d.

Quick checklist

  • The company or organization that ran the ad as the author
  • The date of the version you saw, or n.d.
  • The ad's title or headline in sentence case
  • Italics for an ad that stands on its own, like a video or PDF
  • [Video] for a video ad, [Advertisement] for a print or web ad
  • Where you found it, then the link to the ad itself

Questions students ask

Does APA 7 have a format for advertisements?

No. The Publication Manual has no advertisement category, so you follow the format for the kind of work you found the ad in: a YouTube video, a webpage or PDF, a magazine, or a newspaper. Keep the four parts every reference has: who, when, what, and where.

How do I cite a TV commercial in APA 7?

Find the commercial online and cite that copy. Most national ads are posted on the advertiser's YouTube channel or website, and that gives readers a way to watch it. If you can't find a copy anywhere, describe the ad in your sentence, with who ran it and when, and ask your instructor how they want it handled.

How do I cite an ad in a magazine?

Use the magazine article format, with the advertiser as the author and the ad's headline as the title: Company Name. (Year, Month). Headline of the ad [Advertisement]. Magazine Name, Volume(Issue), page. The headline isn't italicized, because the ad is part of the magazine. In PERRLA, choose Magazine and type [Advertisement] at the end of the headline in Article Title.

Who is the author of an advertisement?

The company or organization that ran it, usually the brand or group named in the ad. For an ad posted online, use the account that posted it. The actors, the people who tell their stories, and the agency that produced the ad don't go in the author spot.

What if the ad has no title or headline?

Most ads have a headline or slogan you can use as the title. If an ad has no words at all, APA 7 puts a short description in square brackets where the title goes, like [Print advertisement for a quit-smoking hotline], with no italics.

Do I italicize an ad's title in APA 7?

Italicize it when the ad stands on its own, like a video on YouTube or a PDF on a website. Leave it in plain type when the ad runs inside a magazine or newspaper. The label in square brackets is never italicized.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 6.17, 8.13, 8.17, 8.21, 8.28, 9.8, 9.11, 9.14, 9.17, 9.19, 9.21, 9.22, 9.34, 9.35, 10.1, 10.4, 10.12, 10.14, and 10.16, and the APA Style website's YouTube reference examples. APA 7 has no advertisement category, so the page adapts the closest reference examples. Example sources verified on October 22, 2026, on each YouTube watch page (channel, title, upload date, and length), on the CDC's Print Ads page, and in the Terrie H. print ad PDF itself.

PERRLA builds an ad's reference from its YouTube link or web address and puts it on your references page in order, hanging indent and all.

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