Image used with permission by copyright holderIf the ads at the beginning of YouTube videos grind your gears, get ready to just about lose your mind with Facebook’s new advertising technique. According to “industry sources,” the social media giant will soon start testing a mid-roll ad format, which means advertisers will have the opportunity to insert clips in, you guessed it, the middle of your videos. Once you’ve viewed content for 20 seconds, brands will have the option of attempting to sell you on their wares.
For the time being, Record reports, Facebook will sell these ads and share revenue with publishers, granting them 55 percent of sales. This is the same margin offered by YouTube, who is currently the king of digital video ad buys.
As video becomes an increasingly important component of social media, networks like Snapchat, Facebook-owned Instagram, and yes, Facebook itself have all dedicated themselves to expanding their video offerings over the last couple years. In fact, as of last year, Facebook said its users were watching 100 million hours of video footage per day. But up until now, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made it difficult for advertisers to make money off this content, forbidding preroll video ads, like those seen on YouTube.
Facebook does appear to be putting quite a premium on content quality, however, as ads will only run if viewers are engrossed enough to make it through 20 seconds of a video. Moreover, only videos that are at least 90 seconds long are eligible to host mid-roll ads.
While Facebook has thus far refused to comment on these latest reports, Facebook vice president Dan Rose, who oversees content at the company, told Poynter last fall that mid-roll ads could be expected “early next year.”
Facebook may suspend all political ads before 2020 election
Facebook is contemplating suspending all political advertising on its social media platform ahead of the U.S. presidential election this fall, according to Bloomberg.
The ban on political ads is currently being "discussed" and has not yet been finalized, according to the report, but sources told Bloomberg that the move is in response to the spread of misinformation and voter suppression on the platform.
Stop Hate for Profit, the Facebook ad boycott, starts today. Will it stick?
Facebook’s ad revenue is around $70 billion annually, according to Reuters. The social media site's reach and power are so great that most advertisers can’t help but incorporate Facebook into their campaigns. But on July 1, a group of activists, backed by major brands, is mounting an initiative to change that with a one-month boycott of advertising on the platform.
Since the announcement of the boycott, Facebook’s stock has already dropped by $56 billion in value. The intended effect has already taken hold. The question now is, what happens after July?
Facebook will label controversial content, ban hate speech in ads after boycott
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the social network will be changing several content moderation policies after a number of major advertisers pledged to boycott the company. In a major reversal, Zuckerberg said the company would ban hate speech in paid advertisements on the platform and start cracking down on harmful posts by public figures.
Zuckerberg revealed the changes in a video and post on Facebook, where the CEO said that the social network is "prohibiting a wider category of hateful content in ads."
