New Facebook Option To Pay For Video Ads Only After 10 Seconds Of Viewing

In yet another move to build up its offerings to compete with Google’s YouTube, Facebook is introducing a new way for marketers to buy video ads where they can now elect to only pay for their video ad if it plays for at least 10 seconds.

This can be seen as significant news for auto dealerships who advertise on Facebook, as the social media company previously charged advertisers on a cost-per-impression basis, which means marketers had to pay the instant their video ad showed up in a user’s News Feed. However, due to the fact that Facebook’s videos autoplay, marketers had no way of knowing whether a user had actually watched their ad or had instead simply scrolled by it without paying any attention. Now, with Facebook’s 10-second viewing option, advertisers can better trust the fact that users are actually seeing and paying attention to their videos. On the other side, it’s important to keep in mind that if a user reads a long status update that exists above an autoplay video in their News Feed, that could take 10 seconds and could therefore count as an ad view.

Those in the digital marketing industry are well aware of the fact that Facebook’s focus on video has increased massively over the past year, with initiatives such as autoplay. Its videos now receive a staggering 4 billion views per day, in part because Facebook generally counts 3-seconds of playing as a view. Approximately 70 percent of the videos are uploaded directly to the platform as opposed to being shared from other sites, further illustrating the social media giant’s growth in video in recent times.

Facebook’s impressive rise in video has made it increasingly competitive with YouTube, however, ad offerings is one area that the social media company has lagged behind in. Even with Facebook’s enhancements to its ad products, YouTube’s platform still gives marketers and dealerships more options, such as the ability to buy slots before, after or during videos, make ads unskippable, or use YouTube’s TrueView option, where they only have to pay if a viewer sticks around for at least 30 seconds or to the end of the video, whichever is less.

Facebook has a long way to go before it reaches the level of flexibility YouTube provides to dealerships, but its new offering is a move in the right direction and brings the social media company that much closer to being fully competitive with YouTube’s ad platform.

Facebook’s ads are sold via auction, and marketers will now be able to choose between buying ads on a cost-per-impression or a 10-second view basis. Interestingly, a Facebook representative told The Wall Street Journal that the company still believes that its impression-based buying option is more valuable than the new 10-second alternative.

“We strongly believe in giving marketers flexibility over how they buy video ads, and we listened to feedback which is why we’re offering the new cost-per-view option,” said the representative. “We don’t believe it’s the best option in terms of capturing the best value and brand objectives marketers care about, but we want to give them control and choice over how they buy.”