Here come Facebook’s new video ads that autoplay in your feed
by Mary Beth Quirk, Consumerist
Let’s get the grumbling out of the way now: Yes, Facebook is testing new video ads and yes, they will autoplay in both your desktop and mobile feeds. But hey, at least the sound won’t be on until you click on it.
The only way to get through these ads without watching them silently is to scroll past them on your feed, writes Facebook in a post announcing the news. Once you can’t see the video anymore, it stops playing.
Right now there are three kinds of sources these videos will come from: “Individuals (personal Facebook accounts or verified Pages); Some Pages, like those of entertainers and sports organizations; and Summit Entertainment’s content for Divergent.”
For those not in the know, Divergent is the newest young-adult-book-turned-movie that entertainment honchos are just crossing their fingers is the next Hunger Games, so it’s not surprising that Summit is hyping it in any way it can.
The autoplay is presented as a good thing by Facebook — it saves you time! So convenient!
“Rather than having to click or tap on the content, videos will begin to play as they appear on screen — without sound — similar to how they behave when shared by friends now. If you don’t want to watch the video, you can simply scroll past it.”
You might be one of the lucky ones, however, as Facebook says not all people will be seeing the ads in this “limited test.” One can only hope to be left out.