Facebook to add video ad to newsfeed

Social network Facebook is set to present a new video ad solution in its newsfeed starting from July to increase revenue. 

The move, which came after its shares lost ground last year, is aimed at carving out a share of the video ad budget of major advertisers. Spending on digital video ads is expected to grow by 41.4 percent from 2012 to hit $4.1 billion in 2013. 

The new type of ads will start automatically on the user’s newsfeed without any sound at first. The user will have to press the play button in order to enjoy the full multimedia ad.

Each ad is limited to only 15 seconds and an individual user will be exposed to only one brand each day.

Several global brands such as Nestle, American Express, Ford and Coca Cola will join Facebook’s initial launch of the video ad platform.

But the new ads might be taken as an intrusive feature. 

“Autoplay would generally be disliked,” said Brian Wieser, an analyst with Pivotal Research, who added it could “annoy” some users.

Jin Eun-soo, Intern reporter
(janna924@heraldcorp.com)