Facebook changes video advertising policy after receiving complaints from advertisers.
On Tuesday, Facebook unveiled a new pricing structure for video ad placements after receiving a fusillade of grievances according to a Wall Street Journal account.
Advertisers were complaining about being charged immediately for their viewed ads–or lack thereof, citing that viewership was too fleeting as users would scroll over them in Facebook’s News Feeds. Now, advertisers have the option of paying after a 10 second play roll.
Facebook is accommodating their clients’ perspective, but its ads are sold via electronic auctions, which promoters might end paying more for than anticipated.
This isolated situation magnifies a broader debate in the digital sphere as to what constitutes a marketable video blurb.
Digital promoting behemoths such as WPP’s GroupM, which governs an estimated $105 billion worth of annual ad revenue for companies such as Unilever, Ford Motor and Dell, wishes only to pay for video ads that are triggered by users instead of launched automatically; executed with volume instead of muted by default; and interacted with more than half-way through. Facebook’s ads fall short of these stipulations.
Facebook argues against their clients’ opposed strategic brand visibility. “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,” a Facebook spokeswoman said.
Companies also want the ability to quantify their conversion results on Facebook’s platform by utilizing third party companies.
Other third party competitors and social media channel rivals such as Twitter are leveraging their position by only charging advertisers if a video appears on a consumer’s screen for a minimum of three seconds.
That’s a higher bar set than the Media Ratings Council and the Interactive Advertising Bureau, trade groups for online ad sellers. According to their boilerplate, an online video ad should only be considered viewable if at least 50% of the ad is visible on a customer’s screen for at least two consecutive seconds.
