Facebook To Roll Out Video Ads By Summer 2013

Facebook is slated to introduce video advertisements in its users' news feeds during the first half of next year, meaning we should see them by summer. This information comes from a report by Ad Age, which says that this is the latest in the social network's attempts to score "TV dollars" by drawing in industry advertisers. The executives responsible for providing the information don't know all the details, they say, but what they do know gives us a decent peek into what's being discussed behind Facebook's doors.

Prepare your collective groan: the video ads are said to be autoplay, meaning you'll be forced to deal with videos that start up automatically when you get on Facebook, causing you to pause your activities while you hunt down the noisy offenses and stop them. That is, unless they elect not to have the audio portion of the advertisement automatically kick on, which one of the two sources states is possible. The video advertisements are said to expand on the desktop variety of Facebook, but how they will be presented on mobile devices is unknown.

Any given advertiser will be able to display his or her video ad to a Facebook user up to three times per day regardless of what device is used to access Facebook. So, for example, if a single user accesses the social network from a smartphone, a tablet, and a computer all in the same say, they will not be presented with the advertisement three times per device, but rather three times total across all devices.

Little else beyond speculation and questions is known about the alleged video advertisements Facebook has planned. Note that the information comes from two unnamed executives who are said to be industry executives who have been "briefed on the company's plans over the past few weeks," so take the information with a grain of salt. For now at least, Facebook has declined comment.

[via Ad Age]