Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is looking to take the video advertising market by storm in the near future with a new concept that has some web video executives concerned. At present, Facebook allows brands that have their own pages, to put video advertisements on them. It is now looking to take this a step further with auto-play video advertisements.
With a total user base of over 1.2 billion people, any new form of video advertising would have massive potential. The system that Facebook is planning to put in place, will start playing the videos the moment a user comes across them in their news feed. Not only that, but Facebook can target demographics, allowing advertisers to reach specific types of consumers. Facebook’s Product Manager for News Feed, Fidji Simo, said that “We can go after much larger target audiences.”
While the new system is not yet a direct threat to the big online video outlets, it does provide an alternative for many of the dollars that normally go their way. With advertisers able to select their audience, they can talk directly to the right consumer. What Facebook has managed to overcome, is the problem that online has never been exactly the same as television. In addition, the new auto-play advertisements, they are very much like television ads. Facebook is also planning to introduce a ratings system for measuring the performance of an advertisement, using data such as audience retention and unique viewers for every campaign.
Some large advertisers such as Wendy’s have already enjoyed great success running unique video ads on Facebook. While there are still some issues, many people think auto-play ads could be a highly valuable asset.
