Facebook Is Bringing Autoplaying Video Ads To Messenger

Facebook has confirmed that it will begin testing autoplaying video ads on the Messenger app. The company says that it will roll out these video ads gradually for a very small percentage of Facebook Messenger users.

“We will be rolling out video ads gradually and thoughtfully,” Facebook said in a statement provided to Quartz. “People that use Messenger each month are our top priority and they will remain in control of their experience.”

Although users will have a degree of control over the ads, it doesn’t mean that they will be able to turn it off completely. It just means that users will have the option to hide an ad, report an ad and or manage their ad targeting preferences. These type of control is similarly found on Facebook’s main app and on the web. It might not turn off the ads, but at least users can get rid of ads that they may find annoying or just irrelevant.

Ads inside Facebook Messenger actually began popping up in January 2017 for some users in Thailand and Australia as part of a test. Facebook then made Messenger ads available worldwide in July 2017. However, those ads were static. Video ads are lot more expensive, which is why it’s important for Facebook to bring it to its Messenger app.

These autoplaying video ads will sit right next to users’ private messages. The problem here is that it may feel intrusive or just simply annoying. Facebook’s head of Messenger business Stefanos Loukakos is aware of this and is saying that they will monitor users’ response to the ads to see if the video ads are affecting their experience.

“Top priority for us is user experience,” Loukakos told Recode. “So we don’t know yet [if these will work]. However, signs until now, when we tested basic ads, didn’t show any changes with how people used the platform or how many messages they send. Video might be a bit different, but we don’t believe so.”

Advertising is a huge deal for Facebook, which is why it’s all over the News Feed. The problem with this is that the company has been running out of places to put its ads, which is why Facebook decided to expand ads to Messenger. Facebook has also brought ads to its Marketplace and even added mid-roll video ads for Facebook videos. Instagram, which Facebook owns, also has ads in Stories and in the feed.