A bumper ad is a video ad of up to six seconds that viewers cannot skip, shown on YouTube and on Google’s video partner sites and apps. It plays before, during or after another video, and it is bought on impressions rather than views, so it suits reach and reminder messages more than detailed selling.
How bumper ads work
You run bumpers inside a Google Ads video campaign with an awareness or reach goal. Bidding is based on target CPM: you say what you are willing to pay per thousand impressions, and Google tries to show the ad as widely as possible within that. You pay when the ad is shown, not when someone clicks or watches to the end, because the whole six seconds plays every time.
At the time of writing (October 2026), Google often recommends mixing bumpers with skippable in-stream ads and Shorts placements in a single reach campaign, letting the system choose the format that reaches each person most cheaply. You can still run bumpers on their own when you want a fixed format.
Bumpers are also used in ad sequences, where a viewer sees a longer ad first and then one or more bumpers as follow-ups. A London theatre might show a 30-second trailer and then two bumpers in the week before opening night: one with the dates, one with a review quote it has permission to use.
Why it matters
Six seconds is too short to explain a complicated service, but long enough to plant a name, an image and one idea. For UK businesses with a known product and a timely message, such as a sale date, a new branch or a seasonal menu, bumpers are a relatively cheap way to remind a large audience.
Because they cannot be skipped, every impression delivers the full message. That makes the cost per thousand impressions a fair comparison with other awareness media such as radio or outdoor posters, as long as you remember a bumper is often watched with the sound off on a phone.
The flip side is that people cannot opt out, so a bumper shown too often becomes irritating. Frequency needs watching more closely than with skippable formats.
Common mistakes
- Cutting down a 30-second advert to six seconds, so it ends before the brand appears.
- Trying to fit three messages, a phone number and a web address into six seconds.
- Relying on sound for the key message when many viewers have it muted.
- Judging bumpers on clicks or conversions, which they are not designed to drive.
- Leaving frequency uncapped, so the same people see the ad many times a day.
How to act on it
Before you brief anyone, decide what the bumper is for: announcing a date, reminding people who already saw a longer ad, or keeping your name visible in a busy season. That choice shapes the creative and the audience.
Write the bumper for six seconds from the start. Show your brand within the first two seconds, keep to one message, and make it readable with the sound off. Add on-screen text in plain British English and keep any claim within the CAP Code, which the ASA applies to online video ads (television adverts fall under the separate BCAP Code).
Set a frequency cap, define the audience by location and interests, and judge the campaign on reach, frequency and, if spend allows, a Brand Lift study. If you want help planning video campaigns where bumpers have a clear job, that is part of my YouTube advertising service.