Facebook has been running a small scale test with US high school students for a concept called LOL where users can find funny meme content.
In the current test the content (mostly memes) lives on the Watch tab of the Facebook ad. It seems that this could become either a feature of the Facebook app or a standalone app.
In any case, if the tests prove successful we can bet that this will bring new ad possibilities (probably in the form of short vertical video ads).
You used to need to buy ads through Google Preferred and by reservation to be able to use the 15-second non-skippable video format.
Google is now making it available to all advertisers across Google properties. This is apparently the most popular video ad format for Google, however it is better suited for branding and advertisers that want to expand reach.
For performance, you’re probably better of with something like YouTube TrueView for action. The format indeed allows you to have a clear call to action as well as the possibility to optimize towards conversions (as long as your product lives on the web as well).
Since June 2018 advertisers have been able to use video ads (and GIFs) on the Reddit platform. The Reddit video ads autoplay in-feed with the sound off, and have a similar look to the rest of the content in a user’s feed. Reddit is an interesting platform because it’s an interest-based platform and some communities have large followings.
However so far they were only sold on a cost-per-view basis. After testing it with more than 50 advertisers, all advertisers can now use cost-per-click bidding for their video ads.
They also plan to add optimization tools to maximize performance during the year.
Something to keep in mind when advertising on Reddit is that you need to engage with the community the right way and create something that is relevant to them. This is true for all channels of course, but especially on Reddit.
More information about creating an ad on Reddit here.
Back in August the app TikTok, from the Chinese company Bytedance, was combined with the Musical.ly app. Musica.ly was already growing at a fast pace and TikTok now claims 800 million daily active users.
And it seems that TikTok has been pitching advertising agency since last November.
Here are the listed ad products: Brand takeover; in-feed native video; hashtag challenge; and Snapchat-style 2D lens filters for photos — with 3D and AR lenses listed as “coming soon” (2019, per another slide).
With the numbers TikTok gives, it will be interesting to see how developers and publishers leverage this new channel when it becomes more widely available.
Regarding video ads on TikTok, it makes sense to see that they use vertical video. You can expect ads close to what you see/use on Instagram Stories.
Did we miss any big news related to mobile video for January? If so, let us know in the comments!