FORMATS · CREATIVE
Telegram ad formats: channels, search, bots, video and mini apps
Telegram advertising runs in a handful of distinct creative formats, each with its own specs, link rules and performance profile. Here is every format in 2026 — the official sponsored message, the new video unit, and the mini-app network formats — so you pick the right creative for the goal.
Quick facts
- Sponsored message
- Text ≤160 chars + 1 button (+ optional image/video)
- Image / video
- JPEG/PNG ≤5 MB; MP4 ≤20 MB, 3–60 s, 16:9 (API docs)
- Links
- Channel, bot, account or external website
- Placements
- Channels, global search, bots, video player
- Premium users
- Don’t see official ads by default
The formats
Sponsored message
The official unit: up to 160 characters of text plus one CTA button, optionally an image or video, labelled "Sponsored", shown at the bottom of the feed in public channels with 1,000+ subscribers.
Image and video ads
A sponsored message can carry an image or a video — offered to agencies since September 2024. According to the Telegram Ads API documentation (23 Sep 2026), an image is JPEG or PNG up to 5 MB and a video is MP4 up to 20 MB, 3–60 seconds, 16:9, at least 640 px wide. Media raises the CPM you need to bid: on average +50–80% for an image and +70–100% for a video per the same documentation; resellers quote +80% and +100%.
Search ads
Since April 2025: a channel or bot shown above Telegram’s global search results for up to 10 keywords of 4–32 characters; websites can’t be promoted in search. Search ads bought with TON/Gram aren’t shown to users in Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Palestine; bought with Stars, they are shown everywhere.
Ads in bots
A sponsored message above the chat with a bot. Since May 2025 it can be bought in euro and ruble cabinets as well; at launch the terms were bots with 1,000+ daily users, up to 9 bots or topics and CPM from €1, without geo targeting (per OneSpot).
Video player
Since July 2025: a text ad of up to 160 characters over channel videos watched full-screen — appears after 5 seconds, can be closed after 9, disappears after 30, no more often than every 2 minutes. Sold only through agencies.
Banner in Bot
Announced by MTS AdTech in September 2026: an ad inside bots shown to a selected audience (socio-demographics, channel subscriptions, operator data, your own phone base). Text, logo and custom emoji only. Telegram hasn’t published its own announcement yet.
Mini-app formats (networks)
Third-party mini-app networks add push-style, interstitial, embedded banner, playable, interstitial video and bot-ad units — outside the official cabinet, with a more lenient policy.
Rewarded
In mini apps, rewarded ads deliver a 20–40% CTR versus 0.5–2% for ordinary display — the user opts in for an in-app reward.
How formats and links work
A sponsored message can promote a channel, a bot, an account or an external website — Telegram’s ad policies are the same in every cabinet. In our archive, external links are common in the Euro cabinet and practically absent in the Gram cabinet (formerly the TON cabinet). An image or video raises the CPM you need to bid.
Premium users don’t see official sponsored messages by default, so a chunk of the most engaged audience is only reachable via channel seeding or mini-app networks. Mini-app formats sit outside official Telegram advertising.
Format choice follows the goal: sponsored messages and video for reach and clicks inside channels; rewarded and playable inside mini apps for installs and high-intent actions. CPM differs sharply by format — see the benchmarks before you commit a budget.
Mini-app CPMs vary by format (RichAds guides): push-style from $1.5, embedded banner from $0.4, playable and video from $3. Check current ranges before budgeting.
Format CPM benchmarks →See live creatives by format in the archive
Browse real sponsored messages and video ads to model what works in your niche.
Build the creative for the format
G.MEDIA Agency builds creatives for every format and cabinet and runs the campaign end-to-end — a 30-day pilot with a transparent dashboard. We work on whole-ecosystem data from the Telegram Ads Spy archive.
Ad formats — FAQ
What ad formats does Telegram support?
The official sponsored message (text + button, optional image/video) shown in channels, in global search (since April 2025), in bots and over channel videos (since July 2025); Banner in Bot, announced by MTS AdTech in September 2026; and — through third-party mini-app networks — push-style, interstitial, embedded banner, playable and rewarded units.
Can a Telegram ad link to my website?
Yes. Telegram’s ad policies allow promoting channels, bots, accounts and external websites. In our archive, external links come almost entirely from the Euro cabinet; in the Gram cabinet (formerly the TON cabinet) we practically never see them.
Is video worth it?
Video raises the CPM you need to bid by about 70–100% (Telegram Ads API documentation; resellers quote +100%), so it has to convert noticeably better than text to pay off. It makes sense where the product needs to be shown in motion.
Why do rewarded ads convert so well?
In mini apps, rewarded ads hit 20–40% CTR versus 0.5–2% for ordinary display because the user opts in for an in-app reward — high intent, but only inside mini-app inventory.
Next
What each cabinet supports — start, mini-apps, external links →
Where an ad may point its button: a CTA-link breakdown of the whole archive across the Gram and EUR cabinets, with live counts.
Sources
Verified as of September 2026Cited facts
- Sponsored message: text up to 160 chars + one button + optional image/video, a "Sponsored" label, shown at the bottom of the feed in public channels with 1,000+ subscribers. Source →
- Media in an ad, per the Telegram Ads API documentation: image JPEG/PNG up to 5 MB, from 640 px, 16:9; video MP4 up to 20 MB, 3–60 s, 16:9, from 640 px. Media raises the required CPM by about 50–80% (image) and 70–100% (video); resellers quote +80% and +100%. Source →
- Sponsored messages allow only internal Telegram links (t.me/@); an external site is available via the site format in the Euro cabinet. Source →
- Premium users by default don’t see official ads (with updates partially changing this). Source →
- Mini-app formats (third-party networks): push-style, interstitial, embedded banner, playable, interstitial video, bot ads, rewarded. Source →
- Rewarded ads in mini apps deliver 20–40% CTR vs 0.5–2% for ordinary display. Source →
- Mini-app CPM guides (RichAds): push-style from $1.5, embedded banner from $0.4, playable from $3, video from $3. Source →
fansgurus / invitemember · Telegram Ads API docs (доступны после входа в кабинет); eLama · fansgurus / invitemember · Affroom / cipiai · RichAds · OmiSoft · RichAds