The next time you see a video advertisement on your Facebook, don't mistake your screen for your TV set. You are still on Facebook but you have to bear with commercials before you can continue to share, Like, or or post what's on your mind on the social network.
Facebook has rolled out on Thursday its Premium Video Ads that it has been testing since September 2013. These automatically-playing advertorials from select advertisers will be rolled out gradually to the News Feed of users in the next few months.
"Premium Video Ads are designed for advertisers who want to reach a large audience with high-quality sight, sound and motion. Each 15-second video ad will start playing without sound as it appears on screen and stop if people scroll past. If people tap the video, it will expand into a full-screen view and sound will start," Facebook announced.
"Premium Video Ads are bought and measured in a way that's similar to how advertisers already buy and measure ads on TV. The ads are bought based on Targeted Gross Rating Points to reach a specific audience over a short period of time," it added.
The firm has also tapped Ace Metrix to evaluate Premium Video Ads to make sure that the ads that will reach users are creative and engaging enough. Facebook wants to show high-quality ads and collaborated with the said company to objectively assess the clips in terms of emotional resonance, watchability, and meaningfulness.
Rumors about video ads on Facebook have floated for years now but the company carefully planned its approach and introduction to avoid resistance from users or disrupt the user experience.
"In the past we've done more stuff to just ship things quickly and see what happens in the market. Now, instead of just throwing something out there, we're making sure that we're getting it right first," said Brian Boland, ads product marketing vice president at Facebook.
Pricing for the new ad product has not been revealed yet but there are hints from people familiar with the matter that it may range from $1 million to roughly $2.5 and will target audience depending on gender and age.
Just as the company declared in Fall, mobile users do not have to worry about consuming more than usual mobile data by downloading the ads when the device is connected over Wi-Fi to the Internet.
If users are thinking of skipping the ads, all they can do is scroll past them. For those who will watch the ads, Facebook will encourage users to explore more content by offering two more videos on a carousel.
Given that users of the social network has endured several facelifts of the Timeline and dealt with various privacy policy revisions, resistance from its more than a billion users is less likely.
