Join us Sept. 14-16 in Miami to connect with top publishing leaders
Think of them as like “little haikus of video ads.”
That’s how YouTube is spinning its forthcoming, unskippable pre-roll ad format in an announcement today. Called Bumpers, the ad units are six-second spots that appear in shorter videos on mobile devices where people tend to watch more “snackable,” or shorter, videos.
YouTube said in a blog post that Bumpers helped increased brand awareness and recall among its users. Bumpers won’t replace its traditional ad format, TrueView, which are longer ads that can be skipped after five seconds has passed. YouTube added that, perhaps not surprisingly, brands buy both formats since they work better together.
Bumpers will be bumping online sometime in May. Atlantic Records and Audi Germany, as seen below, are testing out the videos:
Atlantic Records decided to create different graphical (and cheap) ads for the release of Rudimental’s new album. Audi edited down a longer TrueView ad into serialized string of Bumper videos to promote its new Q-series SUV in Germany.
Even though YouTube is using a Japanese poem to describe the new format, at the end of the day it’s still a pre-roll ad.
More in Marketing
Digiday+ Research: The marketers’ 2026 guide to retail media marketing, including The Home Depot, Milani Cosmetics and Tinuiti
As the retail media landscape continues to evolve, marketers are rethinking where they invest, how they measure success and which retail media networks deserve a larger share of budget.
Why more celebrity-led brands are shutting down
Celebrity-backed brands, once seen as surefire bets due to their founders’ built-in audiences, are increasingly facing a reality check.
In Graphic Detail: How AI search has impacted the web traffic of over 50 advertisers
Data spanning one agency’s entire client roster shows the true impact of AI search on web traffic and conversions.