YouTube is working on a tool called a “Bumper Machine” that can cut down a longer ad into 6 seconds.
This is all done automatically using machine learning. The Bumper Machine takes a 30 or 90-second ad and creates a 6-second bumper ad.
TechCrunch reports that YouTube is currently alpha testing the Bumper Machine.
Eventually, the current test will move to a beta test and ultimately a worldwide rollout.
An early example from GrubHub shows what this tool is capable of.
Here’s an original 13-second ad from GrubHub:
And here’s a 6-second version of the ad which was automatically created using the Bumper Machine:
Bumper Machine works by searching for key elements in an ad, which could be voiceovers, a focus on specific people, company logos, or products. The last two-to-three seconds of an ad will always have a call-to-action.
Since machines are unlikely to get things right 100% of the time, creating an ad will still require a certain amount of human intervention.
Bumper Machine will create four variations of an ad for the user to choose from. From there the user could choose one or keep all four if they want.
That’s all the information available about the tool at this time. I expect we’ll hear more as development progresses.
