Facebook Testing Home Page Video Popup Ads for the First Time
In a move that may get advertisers wondering about Facebook’s future plans for advertising on the home page, Facebook has started testing a new video ad unit that plays the video in a popup box when the video thumbnail on the right side of the page is clicked. It’s the first time we’ve seen this kind of ad unit on the Facebook home page, which Facebook has kept famously light on advertising since the site began.
Facebook, who earlier this morning reiterated to us that it expects to see revenue growth of 70% this year, is likely testing the new design to see if the increase in price it can charge advertisers is worth any negative feedback it may get from users. The experience was pretty surprising to us, but can be exited easily by clicking anywhere on the page.
Facebook home page video ads are common today; however, they currently play in-line when clicked. Here’s how the new video overlay looks when playing an ad from FreeCreditReport.com – as you can see, the rest of the page is grayed while the video plays:
Many industry analysts have long wondered if and/or when Facebook would start to experiment with more “prominent” advertising units on the home page. This may be the first of many tests we see Facebook conduct as it seeks to grab a larger share of online budgets from large advertisers who are interested in the different ways Facebook may be able to boost engagement with ads on the home page…
July 13th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Maybe i might have to get Adblock Plus again
Not a fan of the VideoEgg advertising route
July 13th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
this is not a popup ad in that it comes up automatically. it only shows if a user clicks on the video thumbnail. so its no different to before, except now the video is larger than before. so i’m not sure what the fuss is about?
plus, this new ‘popup’ also appears for any videos in your highlights section. so its not just for adverts, its for any videos shown on the right hand side of the news feed.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Facebook advantage over other social networks always been ajax. If something doesnt navigate away from page – people click that more often.
July 14th, 2009 at 12:07 am
i hate video ads – specially if they run with sound and start without my action…
July 14th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
[...] we wrote about a new home page video experience Facebook has recently been testing for playing video ads and Highlights videos more prominently. [...]
July 14th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Is there a way to NOT see this. It really does block things on my wall or if i go to WEREAD for example I can’t type in the search engine. There is no way to move it or X out of it. That should be an option.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:48 am
Are you guys doing some development on this new feature?
I am thinking about making our own video player widget playable in-line in facebook homepage.
If you guys can be help full with me, please contact me.Thank you in advance!!
May 13th, 2010 at 4:03 am
I HATE these ads all over my page! How do I get rid of them? It is a MAJOR annoyance.
October 5th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I “DO NOT LIKE THEM AT ALL!!!!!!! they are irritating, annoying , slow down my computer, and take up toooooo much space…. Please take them off!!!!!!!!
October 23rd, 2010 at 2:43 pm
This is where those Cillit Bang audio adverts are coming from – also read a BBC article which says the adverts “follow” you from site to site, eg from Myspace to Facebook, its called “personalised” advertising. I DONT like it, it is incredibly annoying as you can’t turn it off, and it has put me off buying Cillit Bang for life. I will never, ever buy it again, you advertising people, so leave me alone!
October 23rd, 2010 at 2:44 pm
does anyone know how to get rid of or block them?