Facebook is rolling out a feature Tuesday, December 17, 2013, a test for its video ad platform for a selected group. This follows from a larger test that has been going on since September to make Facebook videos more engaging. This has resulted in 'more tan 10 percent increase' in views, shares and comments, the company said., which, the company claims, has resulted in “more than 10 per cent increase” in views, likes
"Rather than having to click or tap to play, videos will begin to play as they appear onscreen -- without sound," said Facebook in a statement. When users click the videos, the sound will turn on and the video will play in full-screen mode.
The company said that only a few Facebook users will see video ads this week. It's testing the feature with one company, Summit Entertainment, which is promoting its new movie Divergent, starring Kate Winslet.
The new mobile ads will be available on the News Feed for both mobile and desktop. At the end of the video a carousel of two additional videos will appear, making it easy to continue to discover content from the same marketers.
And for mobile devices, all videos that begin playing as they appear on the screen will be downloaded in advance when the device gets connected to Wi-Fi, so the content will not consume any data plans
For users who don't want to see the videos, Facebook suggests quickly scrolling past them.
Facebook has been aggressively rolling out new advertising products since the company went public, including tools that let advertisers target users based on purchases they made on local stores and other websites they visited, using demographic information.
Although shares of Facebook gained nearly 2 percent in early trading, news of the stock sale from Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook sent shares down 1 percent to just under $55. But the sale hardly indicates that Zuckerberg is abandoning the project.
The Online Video Ads
A recent report by eMarketer estimates that YouTube earns $1.96 billion in net global digital ad revenues. It's estimated that the company’s revenues from just video ad formats will hit $1.22 billion next year, claiming a 21.1 percent share of all U.S. video ad revenues.
In terms of overall video content views (video ads not included) in the U.S., Google properties, largely due to YouTube, leads the pack, with 163.5 million unique views. Facebook comes third with 66.2 million views.
It's in this scenario that Facebook is planning to enter its video ad service, as part of its on-going process to become a more viable option for advertisers. And for that matter, it's tempting to speculate that YouTube will see their marketshare cannibalized by this new competition.
The digital space is a fast growing ecosystem with digital marketing budgets consistently expected to outpace other media over the coming years. If advertisers get another option to spread their message, it is reasonable to assume that they will eventually try to use it.