Introducing: YouTube Video Bumper Ads!

By Ashleigh Cue | @Eucacue  

We are living in a fast-paced, mobile world. In fact, more people spend time on mobile devices than they do on computers. 80% of American internet users own a smartphone and there are nearly two billion active social media users on mobile devices. The number of active mobile social network users has increased 17% since January 2015.

So what does that mean for businesses and social media platforms? They need to become more mobile. The viewing habits of media consumers, especially the millennial generation, is changing. Businesses need to adapt in order to reach their audience. One social media platform in particular is altering their advertising formats in order to keep up with the times.

YouTube is one of the most visited websites around the world. This video sharing platform has more than 100 hours of video uploaded every minute! Not to mention they get over four billion views a day. However, YouTube also has a number of mobile users. In fact, they receive one billion views a day from mobile devices. About 50% of users aged 18 to 49 turn to mobile first when deciding to watch a video. This is why YouTube is changing how businesses advertise.

Previously, YouTube viewers had to watch the first five seconds of an ad before they could skip - which they probably did. This ad format is known as TrueView and most ads range from 15 seconds to a minute. (Though there are some un-skippable three minute ads as well.)

However, with the new ad format, which Google and YouTube are calling Bumper ads, users will have to watch a un-skippable six second ad. These short ads were designed specifically to market to mobile users. Mobile users generally tend to have shorter attention spans -  probably because they are more likely to be on the go. These ads will be easier to digest and work better with shorter video clips.

These Bumper ads are not a replacement for YouTube’s other ad format, but they are rather an extension. In fact, according to YouTube, these short ads work best when accompanied with TrueView, Google Preferred ads and vice versa. One business is breaking up their TrueView into short clips for use as a  Bumper ad.  YouTube describes these six second advertisements as: "little haikus of video ads."

This new ad format will be a positive change for marketers. Bumper ads will provide more metrics that help measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns. However, marketers may need to change their strategies. These short ads may force marketers to create campaigns with mobile users in mind - which may not be a bad thing.

Starting this month, advertisers will be able to use this new ad format in their strategies. YouTube will not force advertisers to use their Bumper ads. However, the latter will definitely be encouraged to do so.

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