Facebook Will Introduce Ads As Videos Start Playing (recode.net)

Facebook is going to start running pre-roll ads on its "Watch" videos next year. While you won't see your News Feed full of video ads, you will start to see pre-rolls, which will run for up to six seconds, on videos in Facebook's "Watch" hub. Recode reports: Facebook launched its Watch hub earlier this year, using "mid-roll" ads (another ad format Facebook tried to avoid for a long time). The fact that they have added pre-rolls -- the format used around the web and the one advertisers are most comfortable with -- should be read as an admission that the mid-roll ads aren't generating significant revenue for Facebook or the publishers putting video into Watch. Speaking of those mid-roll ads: Facebook now says they won't appear until later in videos and they'll only run on longer videos. It says the ads (it calls them "ad breaks") can't run until a minute into a video, and they can only run if the video is at least three minutes long. At first, the ads could run after 20 seconds and on videos as short as 90 seconds.

Comments

Usually I sell good advice

[Opportunist]

This one is for free: Don't do it.

There is no worse place for your ad than in front of some video someone wants to watch. Your ad could be the most topical ad ever, targeted perfectly for me and even about something I have been looking for for my whole life. And still my reaction to it would be negative. Why? Because it keeps me from getting what I want.

Not just like the ads interrupting shows that you watch. They may be annoying, but at least you already got a bit of what you wanted. That's more like someone calling during dinner. Annoying, but you're still chewing, you're still tasting your food, you're still more or less satisfied while you get annoyed. No. This is interrupting and annoying you BEFORE you get what you want. That's more like someone who stops you right after you're done cooking, preparing to sit down to enjoy your meal, looking forward to it and already salivating in anticipation.

This is the WORST kind of experience you could give someone. Your ad target already knows what he wants, thinks he is about to get it and this is exactly the moment you interrupt him.

This person will do anything to get rid of your ad. And he will not care AT ALL what your ad is about. He will not watch it. He will use every second of the time he has to watch it to look for ways to end it so he finally gets what he actually wanted.