Facebook Autoplay Videos

Facebook is slowly but surely moving towards the release of its autoplay video feature which many are anxiously waiting for as it will offer a profitable advertisement platform both for those interested in further promoting their brand/products.

As explained by Chistopher Heine in his article in AdWeek, Facebook is to allow some selected mobile users to test this new feature in their news feeds as a start and testing point towards the actual 'big picture' of marketing messages. 

The test feature is said to allow specifically for the "Uploaded videos for those kinds of parties [to] autoplay automatically without the poster clicking a button—or having the ability to choose against autoplay. In other words, the news feed experience should closely resemble Instagram video." Furthermore, the types of videos that will be allowed to autoplay are those that have been produced via Instagram, Social Cam and Cinemagram. Other types of vides such as Youtube, Vimeo, etc., will not have the autoplay capability.

No specific date has been announced for the web-based version of this feature.

The actual news announcement by Facebook can be read here, which also contains some links for additional resources as well as some FAQ's.

Click on the 'continue reading' link in order to read the original AdWeek article.

Select Facebook mobile users [...] will see the first autoplay videos in their news feeds, the digital giant has revealed. Advertisers cannot employ the feature for the time being, but the move likely signals a baby step towards when video marketing messages roll into view regularly as Facebook users sift through their friends' thoughts and photos

Autoplay videos in the near term will exclusively feature a small test set of regular Facebook users and musicians/celebrities with verified pages, such as pop performer Lady Gaga or CNN's Fareed Zakaria. The videos will initially autoplay on mute, though users can click the multimedia player to hear sound.

Uploaded videos for those kinds of parties will autoplay automatically without the poster clicking a button—or having the ability to choose against autoplay. In other words, the news feed experience should closely resemble Instagram video.

Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook's test starts with consumers on the Android mobile operating system, but iPhone users will get into the mix sometime next week. Only videos uploaded to Facebook's platform will autoplay, including those shot via Instagram, Social Cam and Cinemagram. Videos from YouTube, Vimeo and other sources will not auto play.

No timetable was disclosed for Web-based autoplay video by Facebook reps.

Meanwhile, there's been plenty of speculation about when autoplay video advertising will come to Facebook. Originally, the marketing product was supposed to—per industry rumors—arrive in October. Adweek's sources confirm the initiative has been pushed back indefinitely.

Unless Facebook is mulling the idea of not enabling brands to participate in autoplay at all, it'd be surprising to see the month of November go by without letting video advertisers use the product.

The cash that CEO Mark Zuckerberg & Co. could collect with autoplay video during the build-up to Black Friday and in December would likely be staggering. Per one major agency player, an exclusive national buy for the news feed ad unit for a day would easily surpass a Super Bowl spot when it comes to sheer impressions.

Source: Chistopher Heine   Facebook Autoplay Videos Come to Mobile, But No Ads Yet News feed feature launches Friday