Bumper Ads

Bumper ads are the shortest video ad on YouTube. Google's format overview says they are non-skippable video ads lasting between 5 and 6 seconds, and they can play before, during, or after another video. They serve on YouTube videos, on YouTube Playables in the mobile app, and on Google video partners. Google lists the campaign types that support them as Video reach campaigns, Reservations, and App campaigns for installs. They are classed as in-stream, they can be remarketed to, and they cannot count toward TrueView views. Bumper ads can also be bought through Reservations and as part of App campaigns for installs, as well as Video reach campaigns. Which one you use depends on whether you want auction pricing or a booked, guaranteed delivery.

Billing is by impression. Google says bumper ads use Target CPM, so you pay for every thousand times the ad is shown, not for views or clicks. The viewer cannot skip, so the full message is delivered. That makes bumpers a reach and frequency tool. You set a target CPM, a budget, and an audience, and the system tries to show the ad to as many unique people as it can. Reach is the metric to judge it by, along with measures like ad recall if you run a brand lift study. Because the format is classed as in-stream and can be remarketed to, you can build a list of people who watched your other videos and show them a short reminder. That sequencing is where bumpers earn their place.

Bumpers work best as a partner to a longer ad. A common pattern is a skippable in-stream ad that explains an offer, followed by bumpers that repeat one idea to people who have already seen it. Because bumpers are remarketable, you can aim them at people who watched your other videos. They are a poor fit for direct response. There is no room for a call to action to do real work, there is no click-driven cost model, and you cannot test a long pitch in six seconds. Good bumper creative is built backward from one line. Decide the sentence first, then shoot or animate only what supports it. Show the product in the first second, and put the name on screen from the start.

The usual mistake is cutting a 30-second commercial down to six seconds. Chopped-up TV rarely survives; the format needs one idea, planned for 5 to 6 seconds from the start: one product, one benefit, the brand name early and clearly, and legible on a phone with sound off. Another mistake is buying bumpers with no frequency plan, so the same people see the ad dozens of times. A third is judging them on conversions in the same report as skippable direct-response campaigns. Keep an eye on frequency. Because the ad cannot be skipped, showing it too often to the same person wears out its welcome quickly. A frequency cap in reach campaigns spreads the same budget over more people.

To read results, look at impressions, unique reach, average frequency, and cost per thousand impressions, and compare them between the bumper and your other formats. This week, write the single sentence the ad must land, check that it can be said in 5 seconds out loud, and storyboard three frames. Pair the bumper with a longer asset in the same account so you can tell later whether people exposed to both took more action than people who only saw one. Compare the bumper's cost per thousand impressions with other formats to make sure the reach is priced sensibly, but remember that the goal is exposure and recall, not clicks.