Facebook Inc’s (NASDAQ:FB) new auto-play ads are off to a flying start. Only launched recently, the new type of Facebook ad has already signed NBC. NBC is experimenting with the new television style ads on Facebook by using them to promote three new midseason shows. The campaign began at 12:01 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday for a 24 hour period. It is expected that the ad will be seen by most of the estimated 150 million daily active Facebook users.
The new auto-play Facebook ads start playing the trailer as soon as a user gets to that part of their timeline. NBC has ensured that the trailer is initially muted to avoid irritating too many of its potential viewers. Feedback so far suggests that users quite like the new auto-play format, although not all users appreciate having their timeline ‘invaded’ by television trailers.
Facebook is using a ratings system to monitor its Premium Video ads in much the same way that television advertising is assessed. In addition, Facebook is using Nielson Online Campaign Ratings to measure the success of the ads and the advertiser will only pay based on the results.
The shows being advertised are ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, ‘The Night Shift’ and ‘Undateable’. They are due to premiere later this month. The trailers should only air on the timelines of users over the age of 18, according to their profile. Neither side has disclosed how much this campaign is costing, but experts estimate that it is probably in the range of $1 million per day. Facebook is confident that it can predict with 99 percent accuracy the total reach of one of these campaigns and how often it was watched.
