Up to this point, advertising on Facebook has not caused much of a problem for those users that have to view the ads every time they log in and scroll the News Feed. In fact, most people enjoy the advertisements shown to them, considering they are affiliated with those brands and companies that they have liked on the network voluntarily. Many users actually like pages on Facebook for the sole purpose of receiving advertising content and updates from these brands and businesses. However, there may be a new advertising method on the horizon for Facebook that could potentially screw up the balance between advertiser and Facebook user. There are no confirmed plans of it ever being put in place, but the idea is roaming around the brains behind Facebook’s marketing tools.
According to a recent article from TechCrunch, during an interview at the Future of Media Conference last Wednesday, a keynote with Facebook VP of Business David Fischer revealed thoughts on new marketing tools to come to Facebook. They are not exactly ads that we have never seen before, but they certainly work better in some places than others.
The type of ad I am referring to is auto-play video ads, and during the interview at the conference, Fischer contemplated the ads within the News Feed. He stated that the ad type already exists on Facebook in a way, as Facebook advertisers are already able to post videos and promote them to get more views on them. Even though these ads have to be clicked on, they already work well. However, Fischer stated that advertisers have been requesting a way to more effectively grab attention with video ads on Facebook, instead of simply having them blend with the other stories in the News Feed.
After being asked to provide an example of a company that is effectively using video ads like these, Fischer stated, “You know I think YouTube has moved in the right direction by putting more control in the user’s hands, with the five-second TrueView thing.” Even though YouTube and Google are the main competitor of Google on the web, Fischer stated that he could see video ads like those on the video sharing network, working for Facebook in a similar way.
“I believe there are ways we could do it. There are ways that could be destructive and distracting to the user experience. But there are ways that could potentially balance user experience with advertiser experience. We haven’t put a product out yet because we haven’t had one we’re comfortable with. But if we could, then we would do it.”
The question is; how might this new advertising method affect the way users enjoy the Facebook experience. As of right now, the majority of Facebook advertising takes place quietly, resting in the News Feed for users to see alongside the content of friends and family. Adding noise and visuals like auto-play ads, ones that will potentially take up the entire Facebook homepage for at least a five second interval, may disturb users, and make some shy away from the use of Facebook.
