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It's about time. Facebook's ad inventory has historically been worthless. It doesn't matter how precisely you target the ads if you don't have the attention o

by hapless 13y ago

It's about time. Facebook's ad inventory has historically been worthless. It doesn't matter how precisely you target the ads if you don't have the attention of the audience. Facebook had none of the "intent-harvesting" opportunities of search ads: they were just sticking text in the middle of the content you actually wanted to read. Facebook ad inventory needed to be more like TV. Like Facebook, television advertising has no "intent-harvesting," but it has pretty good targeting. The nature of TV ads gives them a chance to engage the viewer. Using full-motion video ads, with or without audio, gives advertisers a fighting chance for your attention. The ability to interrupt might be enough to make Facebook's valuation work.

minimaxir 13y ago
The funny thing is that with the current implementation of auto-play ads on the mobile FB apps, the moment I see a video animating from Instagram, I scroll past it even faster because it's distracting and usually not worth the 15 seconds.
basicallydan 13y ago
I admire your decision to separate yourself from the user experience angle of this and focus on it from a business perspective. Nevertheless, I hope that this little decision will be enough to put a lot of people off of Facebook because I'd rather see something like this fail than for an application I used to use as an example of pretty good UX and model of simplicity succeed with ad advertising technique normally lumped together with pop-up ads and fake buttons on download sites. In short, to use a simple, easy to understand phrase: auto-play video ads are lame. That said, I'm willing to be proven wrong. Maybe they'll come up with some way to make it unintrusive, but that isn't really the point, is it?
kfcm 13y ago
As a business owner, I do my best not to antagonize those who use my services. Auto-play video? Not only distracting and annoying, but a drain on batteries. I think Facebook will find this drives people away.
JulianMorrison 13y ago
Consider your attempt to maliciously hack my attention adblocked. I do NOT WANT to see your bullshit. That is why I am not looking at it. If you subvert my lower-level programming like the evolved motion-startle response to grab my attention, this constitutes misuse of my mental hardware. You do NOT have my consent to do it, and the fact that I live in a world where some services come with attached advertising does NOT constitute consent. I shall continue to use them, with adblock turned on.
chaz 13y ago
I'm hoping they'll be able to provide more than just video ads, though. Small businesses tend to not have video creative ready, and compared to the better produced and more entertaining ads that will probably work best on FB, they may be paying a high CPM for pretty poor performance. Regardless, if it helps more brand ad dollars move into online and mobile, I'm all for it because it's good for our entire industry. I think this could be the biggest ad product in mobile to date, and I'm sure we'll learn a lot.

by hapless 13y ago

minimaxir 13y ago

The funny thing is that with the current implementation of auto-play ads on the mobile FB apps, the moment I see a video animating from Instagram, I scroll past it even faster because it's distracting and usually not worth the 15 seconds.

basicallydan 13y ago

I admire your decision to separate yourself from the user experience angle of this and focus on it from a business perspective. Nevertheless, I hope that this little decision will be enough to put a lot of people off of Facebook because I'd rather see something like this fail than for an application I used to use as an example of pretty good UX and model of simplicity succeed with ad advertising technique normally lumped together with pop-up ads and fake buttons on download sites. In short, to use a simple, easy to understand phrase: auto-play video ads are lame. That said, I'm willing to be proven wrong. Maybe they'll come up with some way to make it unintrusive, but that isn't really the point, is it?

kfcm 13y ago

As a business owner, I do my best not to antagonize those who use my services. Auto-play video? Not only distracting and annoying, but a drain on batteries. I think Facebook will find this drives people away.

JulianMorrison 13y ago

Consider your attempt to maliciously hack my attention adblocked. I do NOT WANT to see your bullshit. That is why I am not looking at it. If you subvert my lower-level programming like the evolved motion-startle response to grab my attention, this constitutes misuse of my mental hardware. You do NOT have my consent to do it, and the fact that I live in a world where some services come with attached advertising does NOT constitute consent. I shall continue to use them, with adblock turned on.

chaz 13y ago

I'm hoping they'll be able to provide more than just video ads, though. Small businesses tend to not have video creative ready, and compared to the better produced and more entertaining ads that will probably work best on FB, they may be paying a high CPM for pretty poor performance. Regardless, if it helps more brand ad dollars move into online and mobile, I'm all for it because it's good for our entire industry. I think this could be the biggest ad product in mobile to date, and I'm sure we'll learn a lot.