Facebook Finally Unveils 15-Second Video Ads That Will Auto-Play In Your News Feed
Think YouTube ads are annoying? Mark Zuckerberg thinks so too. He's doing 'all he can' to make sure his version of video ads are a little less in your face. Here's all you should know. Will you still love Facebook all the same?
By Judith Yeoh — 12 Aug 2013, 05:38 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
After Two Years Of Rumours And Three Months Since Facebook Began Testing Out Premium Video Ads, The Feature Is Finally Rolling Out To All Users
After years of rumors and tests, Facebook on Thursday launched its video advertising inside the News Feed, the newest type of ad unit for the social network to sell to marketers.
recode.net
Like many Internet video spots, ads will be 15 seconds long. They will automatically play inside of a user’s stream, though without the sound on. If you tap the ad, it’ll expand to fill the screen and the sound will kick in. Pretty straightforward.
pcmag.com
It has been a long time coming. Facebook has been wary of upsetting its user base with the new ad unit, and has been methodical in its tests leading up to the launch. (So methodical, in fact, that the launch has been delayed multiple times.)
socialnewsdaily.com
To safeguard against crappy ads, Facebook said it’s working with an outside company to make sure you aren’t getting a bunch of lame marketing videos showing up in your feed.
recode.net
Apparently this company, Ace Metrix, can “objectively measure the creative quality of the video in the Facebook environment” by highlighting “meaningfulness, watchability and emotional resonance.”
Expect the ads to start showing up in your feed in the coming months.
venturebeat.com
What will Facebook video ads be like? For one, they will be 15 seconds long, the same length as an Instagram video
Video ads will appear to targeted users in their news feeds up to three times on the day they’re slotted.
"Reports suggest that the ad unit will auto-play without sound; when a user switches on the sound, the video will play from the beginning," the study reads. "If a user is not interested in watching the video, he/she simply scrolls past it.
mashable.com
To better compete with standard television ads, Facebook will allow brands to showcase up to three videos in "carousels," a feature in which users swipe from right-to-left to see two more videos from the advertiser, these people said.
Facebook will make these video ads targeted towards specific users. There is a category for women over 30, women under 30, men over 30, and men under 30. The video ads will also be implemented onto Facebook Mobile.
slashgear.comMark Zuckerberg isn't a fan of video ads and has been working behind the scenes to avoid annoying us all
As Facebook prepares to roll out video advertising on its social network, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is trying to make sure the ads don't annoy his 1.1 billion members.
"Since earlier this year, Mr. Zuckerberg and his engineers have toiled over how to make the ads not so distracting and slow that they alienate users," they write. Zuckerberg "set an especially high bar for the team," another source added.
theatlanticwire.comMr. Zuckerberg has been heavily involved in the development of video ads, approving changes at every turn and pushing his team to repeatedly test with small groups, to understand how the ads impact activity and time spent with Facebook, according to two people close to the company.
Some advertisers, for instance, began creating video ads in anticipation of a summer rollout, but had to find alternative marketing plans for time-sensitive products after delays, people with knowledge of the matter said.
How much will Facebook be making from videos on our news feed? Around $2 million a day from their advertisers
Its analysts think the ads will be an instant hit, and could end up generating $1 billion for the company next year, commanding one percent of the U.S. TV ad budget.
Image via wp.comAnalysts think the ads will be an instant hit, and could end up generating $1 billion for the company next year, commanding one percent of the U.S. TV ad budget.
Earlier reports said that Facebook could charge between $1 and $2.5 million. Sources now say that they will cost $2 million per day to reach a full Facebook audience of people 18-54.
theatlanticwire.comFacebook is not the only one raiding TV ad spend from advertisers
This chart shows how ad spend changed in the first quarter of 2013 for all types of ads. Notice the significant peak for Internet ads and dip in ad spend for newspapers.
Image via wordpress.comFacebook joins a growing legion of traditional media and Internet companies, including Google Inc. GOOG -0.25% and Twitter Inc., that are trying to grab money that advertisers currently spend on television, a decades-old medium
The plan to raid ad money from TV networks comes after Facebook touted the fact that its audience is bigger than that of prime-time TV. Of course, that's an increasingly lower hurdle to pass, given the long-time decline of network TV audiences.
Advertisers spent up to $3.8 million on a 30-second television commercial during the Super Bowl in 2013. And 108.4 million people tuned in to watch the big game. Facebook, on the other hand, has the attention of 1.15 billion users.
businessinsider.com
The push from Facebook comes at a sensitive time for the TV industry, which is wrapping up advance ad sales for the 2013-14 season. The top networks are expected to book $800 million less than last year, partly because of weak ratings.
Doomed to fail? Even before its launch, some say Facebook's video ads will drive users away
When time is short and intent is clear, a video ad, no matter how amusing, can feel obtrusive. Facebook’s intention to feature 15-sec autoplay ads at the top of users’ newsfeeds wholly neglects both the intent of users navigating to the social network and the nature of video advertising.
venturebeat.com
Angry users could revive the “Quit Facebook Day” protest from 2011, when a change in privacy settings sparked criticism. But the organizers’ website ended up with only 40,620 “committed Facebook quitters,” a drop in the bucket for the huge social network.
yahoo.com
Even before its launch, some say Facebook's video ads are destined to fail.
Image via socialmediaillumination.co.ukFacebook video will fail for exactly the reason that taxi, elevator, and other location-based video succeeds: Consumers are engaged when they are entertained and being provided value, not when they are intruded upon purely for Facebook’s bottom line.
venturebeat.com
Video ads may well drive users away from Facebook, but the question the company has to figure out is whether or not the sacrifice is worth the ad revenue, not just in the short term but in the long run, too
digiday.com
Did you know: there was a hoax message about Facebook video ads, sent to Facebook users by 'Mark Zuckerberg'
The message is not from Mark Zuckerburg or anyone else at Facebook. While Facebook is indeed considering implementing video ads, these ads will not stop people from using the site as normal.
Image via hoax-slayer.comThe message is not from Mark Zuckerburg or anyone else at Facebook. While Facebook is indeed considering implementing video ads, these ads will not stop people from using the site as normal.
INFOGRAPHIC: Facebook's growth from 2012 to 2013 (click for full image)
From 2012 to 2013, the number of Facebook’s monthly active users increased by 23 percent to more than 1.1 billion. Facebook-owned Instagram has more than 100 million active users every month. And the company’s ad revenues are up by 43 percent.
Image via sociallystacked.com