Facebook Will Show Auto Playing Video Ads in the Newsfeed

According to a report from the Financial Times published on May 7, Facebook will start showing auto playing video ads in its users’ newsfeeds this summer. Since the company’s public offering in 2012, many have been expecting to see what exactly will be offered to those companies sponsoring Facebook, which include Coca Cola, Ford and American Express. Apparently, this is, at least partly, the answer to that question.
Facebook’s need to generate more revenue has found a solution in video ads, which are the most effective if they sound and play automatically as soon as a webpage has fully loaded. Initially, Facebook ads did not make its way up to the users’ newsfeed and were relegated to the edges of the screen. The incorporation of ads to the newsfeed saw some severe reactions on the part of the customers. The intention to turn those ads into video ads is already a big leap from there, more so if they play automatically.

How Will the Ads Work?

For starters (and most importantly), the ads will play themselves but they will do so in mute mode. For customers, this means no searching for the browser tab which is emitting the intrusive noises. The video will play for no more than 15 seconds and one brand will be advertised a day in each particular newsfeed. If the user were to click on the video to activate the audio, the video would restart itself from the beginning. All this information means video ads would be less intrusive than what it was initially expected.
It must be highlighted that Facebook users seem to be increasingly unhappy about the company and it is unclear what their reaction will be when confronted with this new advertising technique. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Facebook’s customer satisfaction has suffered a steep decline, turning the company into one of the least popular of all Internet companies surveyed. Of the 230 companies surveyed, Facebook has ranked within the last five.