Facebook Video Ads Delayed Until 2014, Says Sources

In December of last year, information surfaced claiming that Facebook would be rolling out video advertisements by this past summer, and later on in July, sources stepped forward claiming the social network could be rolling out TV-style ads by the end of this year. According to the latest batch of sources, however, this has changed, and Facebook has postponed the advertisements until next year.

The information comes from unnamed sources who spoke to the folks at AllThingsD, of which it is claimed Facebook has been informing some of its advertisement-based clients that the video ad platform won't be coming out until 2014. Give the number of times the roll-out has been postponed, it is reasonable to assume the sources are correct, and to be a bit cynical in regards to when the videos will actually arrive.

This is good news for those who aren't looking forward to dealing with auto-playing videos when they hop on the network, something that has resulted in complaints already. In fact, it is this very reason the sources are saying the roll-out has been slowed. Reportedly, Facebook is concerned about user backlash towards auto-playing video ads, and so it is spending extra time looking at how its users act towards current video advertisements.

The news isn't so good for advertisers, however, who are reportedly anticipating the opportunity and that could result in new advertisers gravitating towards the social network. The new ad variety will also pose a change for Facebook, but that is less cut-and-dry, which the company needing to toggle between business needs and user acceptance of the changes.

SOURCE: AllThingsD