Facebook’s auto-play video ads, though effective, are not very economical for marketers who have been forced to pay for ads once they come into view, irrespective of whether they had been viewed or not. But this is going to change with the new pricing plan revealed by the social network on Tuesday.
More for marketers
On Tuesday, Facebook declared a new pricing strategy for auto-play video ads after hesitation from marketers regarding the charges that have been paid for ads that are hardly noticed by consumers. Advertisers or marketers have long been unhappy with Facebook’s policy of charging them immediately when their ads come onto a viewer’s screen. But now, Facebook is giving them the option of paying for video ads only when they are viewed for at least ten seconds. Also the social network will allow brands to assess how many views lasted for 50%, 75% and 100% of the video.
Marketers also insist on third-party involvement to measure their ads’ effectiveness on the platform, as presently, they have to rely on Facebook’s data on the number of times their ads have been viewed or for how long.
Facebook has already started explaining its new strategy to ad buyers, industry experts told the The Wall Street Journal. Since Facebook sells ads via auction, there are a good chances that marketers pay more for a 10-second ad.
Facebook still not on par with expectations
The digital media world is presently grappling with questions about which ad should be rated as “viewable,” as it plays a vital role in deciding how much money is spent in the $145 billion global digital ad market.
WPP’s GroupM, which controls an estimated $105 billion worth of annual ad spending globally, believes marketers should only pay for ads that are opened by users (not for auto-play ads), with volume and that have been viewed more than halfway through. Facebook’s ads are not up to these specifications, but the company claims that its ads provide value to brands as soon as they are displayed, even if they are muted. The social network added that only after getting advertising partners’ feedback, they decided to provide the 10-second option.
Carolyn Everson, Facebook’s VP of global marketing solutions, said, “One of the requests that we’ve been hearing in the market for quite some time is a way for our marketers to be able to buy based on guaranteed view.”
