While you are digesting the upcoming changes to Facebook’s news feed, here’s something else to think about: Multiple sources say video ads will soon be appearing in that newly-redesigned feed.
One source says the ads would max out at 15 seconds and start playing automatically in the feed, according to Mashable.
If your first reaction to the idea of seeing video ads appear in your News Feed is to start typing another F-word besides Facebook, you’re probably not alone.
“Facebook knows that they can’t alienate users and continue to grow at the rate they are. That’s why we’ve seen them be cautious in rolling out monetization products,” said Clark Fredricksen, an analyst with eMarketer. “It’s my guess that we’ll see something similar here.”
Facebook reportedly also has a team of 150 people working to build video tools for users and businesses that might make it easier for media companies to deliver videos and perhaps even place preroll ads in these clips much like YouTube does, according to AdWeek.
…the belief among marketers is that Facebook users may be able to tolerate various types of video promotions more now, thanks to the redesign. “It will scroll nicely and it will be a little less intrusive,” said Dan Slagen, SVP of marketing at Nanigans, of how video ads will look in the new News Feed.
More than that, Slagen says the extra subfeed categories that Facebook added will help with video ad delivery by giving users a little more control over when and which videos they might see. For example, users can basically opt in to seeing videos on brand pages by going to their Following feed, or they might see a promotional video for a video game when in the Gaming feed, which is presumably more relevant to them at that time.
What do you think of the idea? Would video ads in your news feed make the Facebook experience better or worse? Post a comment below and let us know.
