Social Media News Africa

Facebook expands video ads support

Facebook's Audience Network has expanded to support more video. These video ads will appear both in-stream (pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll) and in-article (starting with Instant Articles) from advertisers that want to drive brand awareness and recall.
Image by 123RF
Image by 123RF

Now businesses will be able to extend the reach of their videos on Facebook and Instagram to other apps and websites within Audience Network where people spend their time.

Key points:

  • The Audience Network will deliver video ads in both in-stream and in-article formats. 
  • In-stream video ads could appear in three possible places:  during a break in the video (mid-roll); before a video starts (pre-roll); after the video ends (post-roll).
  • USA Today Sports Media Group and the Daily Mail are two of the test partners for in-stream and in-article, respectively.
  • In–article video ads will appear between paragraphs of text and play automatically when at least half the pixels are viewable. For now, in-article ads are only available in Instant Articles.
  • This is the first time Audience Network will serve ads on desktop, allowing advertisers to reach people across devices.

The reasoning behind the latest move is:

  • With more places to deliver content, Facebook can better maximise value for advertisers who want more brand awareness through video.
  • Globally, advertisers that opt-in to the Audience Network can generate 10% more incremental reach than using mobile News Feed alone.
  • Video is a powerful way for businesses to share brands’ messages and can be both compelling and personal, especially on mobile devices.
  • People are watching more video, with 100 million hours of video being watched on Facebook every day alone. 

*More info can be found on Facebook’s blog.

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