While I can't provide a "Complete Course" in a single text response, I can give you an Ultimate YouTube Ads Guide for Beginners (reflecting 2023 principles). This will cover the essential steps, concepts, and best practices to get you started effectively.

YouTube Ads are powerful because they allow you to tap into the world's second-largest search engine and a massive video consumption platform. With the right strategy, you can reach highly targeted audiences at various stages of their buying journey.

The Ultimate YouTube Ads Guide for Beginners [Complete Overview]
Why YouTube Ads in 2023 (and beyond)?

Massive Reach: Over 2 billion logged-in users monthly.

High Engagement: Viewers are actively consuming content, often in a receptive mindset.

Powerful Targeting: Leverage Google's vast data to reach highly specific audiences.

Visual Impact: Video allows you to tell your story, build brand trust, and demonstrate products effectively.

Strong ROI Potential: Often more cost-effective than traditional TV ads and can drive strong conversions.

Phase 1: Preparation & Planning
1. Define Your Goal:
Before you even touch Google Ads, know what you want to achieve. This will dictate your ad format, bidding strategy, and targeting.

Brand Awareness & Reach: Get your brand seen by as many relevant people as possible.

Product/Brand Consideration: Encourage people to learn more about your offerings.

Website Traffic: Drive visitors to your landing page.

Leads: Capture contact information (e.g., email sign-ups).

Sales/Conversions: Drive purchases or other key actions.

2. Create Compelling Video Content:
This is the heart of your YouTube ad success.

High Quality: Professional-looking video is crucial. You don't need a Hollywood budget; a good smartphone and editing software can suffice.

Hook in the First 5 Seconds: You have a tiny window to grab attention, especially with skippable ads.

Clear Message: What's your unique selling proposition? What problem do you solve?

Benefit-Driven: Focus on what the product/service does for the viewer.

Strong Call-to-Action (CTA): Tell people exactly what you want them to do (e.g., "Learn More," "Shop Now," "Sign Up"). Make it visible and clear.

Vary Lengths: Have shorter (6-15 sec) and slightly longer (30-60 sec) versions for different ad formats and testing.

Optimize for Sound On/Off: While many watch with sound on, ensure your message is still clear even if someone is watching with no audio (e.g., using captions or clear visuals).

ABCDs of Effective Video Ads (Google's Framework):

Attention: Hook viewers in the first few seconds.

Branding: Integrate your brand early and often, naturally.

Connection: Create an emotional connection through storytelling or addressing pain points.

Direction: Provide a clear call to action.

3. Set Up Your Google Ads Account & Link Your YouTube Channel:

You'll manage YouTube Ads through Google Ads. If you don't have an account, create one at ads.google.com.

Link your YouTube channel to your Google Ads account (Tools & Settings > Setup > Linked Accounts). This is essential for accessing remarketing audiences, reporting, and running ads from your channel.

Phase 2: Campaign Setup in Google Ads
1. Create a New Campaign:

In your Google Ads account, click "+ New Campaign."

Choose Your Campaign Goal: Select the goal that aligns with your defined objective (e.g., "Leads," "Sales," "Website traffic," "Brand awareness and reach," "Product and brand consideration"). Google's AI will optimize for this goal.

Select Campaign Type: Video.

2. Campaign Settings:

Campaign Name: Use a clear, descriptive name (e.g., "Brand Awareness - Bumper Ads - Q3 2023").

Bidding Strategy:

Target CPA (tCPA): If your goal is conversions, you can set a target cost per acquisition. Google will try to get you conversions around this average.

Maximize Conversions: Google will try to get as many conversions as possible within your budget.

Maximize Conversion Value: For optimizing for the value of conversions.

Target CPM (tCPM): For brand awareness/reach goals, bidding per thousand impressions.

Max. CPV (Cost-Per-View): For "Product and brand consideration" or if you want to pay for views.

Budget:

Daily Budget: Set the average amount you want to spend per day.

Total Campaign Budget: Set a fixed amount for the entire campaign duration.

Start with a realistic budget. For beginners, don't start too high. You can always scale up.

Networks:

YouTube Videos: Your ads appear before, during, or after YouTube videos.

Youtube Results: Ads appear next to Youtube results.

Video Partners on the Display Network: Your ads appear on websites and apps that partner with Google. For beginners, often best to start with "YouTube Videos" only to maintain focus.

Locations & Languages: Target specific countries, regions, or cities, and the language your audience speaks.

Exclusions: Exclude sensitive content categories (e.g., live streaming, embedded videos) to maintain brand safety.

3. Ad Group Setup:

Ad Group Name: Organize your targeting (e.g., "Interest - Fitness Enthusiasts," "Placement - Yoga Channels").

Demographics: Target by age, gender, parental status, household income.

Audiences (Who You Want to Reach): This is where YouTube Ads truly shine.

Audience Segments (Interests): Reach people based on broad interests (e.g., "Sports & Fitness," "Cooking Enthusiasts").

Custom Segments:

Custom Affinity Segments: Create audiences based on interests more tailored to your brand (e.g., "Avid Marathon Runners" instead of just "Sports Fans").

Custom Intent Segments: Target people actively searching for specific keywords or visiting particular websites (highly powerful for lower-funnel).

Your Data Segments (Remarketing): Target people who have previously interacted with your website, YouTube channel, or app (very high conversion rates).

Life Events: Target people undergoing major life milestones (e.g., moving, getting married).

Content (Where You Want Your Ads to Show - Contextual Targeting):

Keywords: Show your ads on videos related to specific keywords or phrases (e.g., "how to bake sourdough," "best gaming laptop").

Topics: Target broad categories of YouTube content (e.g., "Cooking," "Video Games," "Beauty & Fitness").

Placements: Manually select specific YouTube channels, individual YouTube videos, or even websites/apps on the Google Display Network where you want your ads to appear (e.g., a competitor's channel, a popular review channel). This is great for direct targeting.

Combined Targeting: You can layer these options. For instance, target "fitness enthusiasts" (audience) who are watching "yoga channels" (placement). Be careful not to make your audience too narrow.

4. Create Your Ads:

Upload Your Video: Your video must be uploaded to YouTube first.

Select Ad Format:

Skippable In-Stream Ads: Play before, during, or after videos. Viewers can skip after 5 seconds. You pay if they watch for 30 seconds (or the full ad if shorter), or interact. Great for consideration and conversions.

Non-Skippable In-Stream Ads: Up to 15-20 seconds long. Viewers cannot skip. You pay per impression (CPM). Good for brand awareness.

Bumper Ads: Short, non-skippable ads up to 6 seconds. You pay per impression. Excellent for quick brand awareness and reinforcing messages.

In-Feed Video Ads (formerly Discovery Ads): Appear in Youtube results, on the YouTube homepage, and as related videos. Users click to watch. You pay per click. Good for consideration and getting views on longer-form content.

Outstream Ads: Mobile-only ads that appear on partner websites and apps outside of YouTube. You pay for viewable impressions.

YouTube Shorts Ads (Newer): Vertical video ads that appear in the Shorts feed.

Final URL: The landing page where people go after clicking your ad.

Call to Action: Clear and compelling button text.

Headline & Description: Compelling text that encourages clicks.

Phase 3: Launch, Monitor & Optimize
1. Launch Your Campaign:

Review all your settings before hitting "Enable."

Ensure your billing information is correct.

2. Monitor Performance Regularly:

Google Ads Dashboard: Your go-to place for data.

Key Metrics to Watch (based on your goal):

Awareness: Impressions, Reach, Frequency, CPM (Cost per Mille/1000 views), View Rate.

Consideration: Views, View Rate, CPV (Cost per View), Audience Retention (how much of your video people watch).

Conversions: Conversions, CPA (Cost per Acquisition), Conversion Rate, ROAS (Return on Ad Spend - if tracking revenue).

Check Daily/Weekly: Especially in the beginning.

3. Optimize Your Campaigns:

A/B Test Everything:

Ad Creatives: Test different hooks, intros, CTAs, video lengths.

Targeting: Test different audience segments, keywords, or placements.

Bids/Budgets: Gradually adjust based on performance.

Negative Placements/Keywords:

If your ads are showing on irrelevant channels or videos, add them as negative placements.

If certain search terms trigger your In-Feed ads but don't convert, add them as negative keywords.

Adjust Bids: If you're not getting enough impressions or conversions, try slightly increasing your bids. If your CPA is too high, try lowering them (or optimizing other aspects).

Refine Audiences: As you gather data, refine your targeting to focus on the most profitable segments. Remove underperforming segments.

Remarketing: This is often the most profitable type of YouTube ad. Create audiences of people who visited your website, watched your YouTube videos, or engaged with your channel, and show them highly targeted ads.

Ad Scheduling: If you notice better performance at certain times of day or days of the week, adjust your ad schedule.

Device Optimization: Analyze performance across mobile, desktop, and TV screens. You might want to adjust bids or exclude certain devices if performance is poor.

Best Practices for Beginners (2023 Principles):

Start Small, Scale Up: Don't blow your budget on one campaign. Start with a smaller budget, test different ads and targeting, find what works, then gradually increase spending.

Focus on One Goal per Campaign: Avoid mixing "brand awareness" with "sales" in the same campaign initially, as Google's AI will get confused.

Install Conversion Tracking: For any conversion-focused campaign (leads, sales), ensure you have Google Ads conversion tracking set up correctly on your website. This is vital for Smart Bidding.

Learn Google Analytics: Understand how to interpret traffic and conversion data from YouTube Ads on your website.

Patience is Key: It takes time for Google's algorithms to learn and for your campaigns to optimize. Don't make drastic changes too quickly.

Stay Updated: The digital advertising landscape changes rapidly. Follow Google Ads blogs, industry experts, and YouTube's own resources.

This guide provides a strong foundation for launching your first YouTube Ads campaigns. Remember, success comes from continuous learning, testing, and optimization!