What are YouTube's documented limits for end screens and info cards (duration, element counts, suppressions) that affect where to place calls to action?

Problem: planning the final seconds and mid-video prompts so they are actually shown. Conditions: long-form videos in YouTube Studio > Content > Editor. Method (documented limits): end screens occupy the last 5-20 seconds, the video must be at least 25 seconds long, and a 16:9 video can hold up to four elements (other aspect ratios may allow fewer). Element types: video (latest, best for viewer, or chosen), playlist, subscribe, channel and, for Partner Program channels, an external link. Cards: up to 5 per video; types video, playlist, channel, link (Partner Program); a channel card needs message and teaser text. Interactions: card teasers and video watermarks are suppressed during the end screen; viewers can hide end screens; cards do not show if a Content ID claim has an active campaign, and videos displaying cards show no Call-to-Action overlay. Neither is available for made-for-kids videos; end screens are also unavailable on mobile web and 360 videos. Failure modes: designing an end card that needs more than four elements or that sits on the final 4 seconds of a short video. Limitations: the pages are procedural and contain no performance data; whether end screens raise watch time is not claimed. Version/date: help pages read 2026-10-23. Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources. Limitations: 'Best practice' guidance is thin on these pages; no effectiveness data. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6388789?hl=en",
      "note": "Intro notes; Intro notes; Intro notes; Add cards"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6140493?hl=en",
      "note": "Intro notes; Intro notes; Intro notes; Add cards"
    }
  ]
}