Facebook's News Feed for mobile hasn't been much of a friend to vertical videos, but the company is making moves to change this. It won't be fully optimized the same way vertical videos have been optimized for Snapchat, but the tiny square issue should no longer be apparent.
This move will only affect the Android and iOS apps, and we understand vertical videos will be started from the 2:3 aspect ratio as opposed to the regular 1:1 without having to expand them further.
"We know that people enjoy more immersive experiences on Facebook, so we're starting to display a larger portion of each vertical video in News Feed on mobile," a Facebook spokesperson said to Marketing Land in a recent email.
Apps such as Snapchat, Periscope and Meerkat have allowed users to embrace the vertical video format a lot more than in the past. According to Jon Steinberg, CEO of Daily Mail North American Operations, vertical video ads from the company has seen higher completed views when compared to other formats.
This could be a clear sign that social media users are finally adopting vertical videos when compared with videos in horizontal format. This could be happening due to how most folks hold their smartphone. A lot of us tend to hold a device vertically and, when watching videos, turn it horizontally for a better experience.
However, not everyone has the time to turn their devices horizontally and would just go ahead with the limited vertical experience. This is why transforming vertical videos is a solid move coming from Facebook.
Facebook did not reveal when users should expect to experience the new vertical video feature, but according to Mashable, this should go live in the coming weeks. Now, we're not certain if the feature will make it to the mobile website and when it will be ready for the Windows 10 Mobile app.
While we are in full agreement with Facebook's decision, we'd love to see the format fully supported in similar ways with Snapchat. The company has no real incentive to go this far, but it would be a good thing to do, as advertisers see the benefit.
Facebook users should expect to see more vertical videos appearing in their News Feed going forward. It's becoming a popular thing for advertisers, and as we all know, when advertisers like something, they won't hesitate to take full advantage of it.
