Twitter has been trying to play catch-up with Facebook for a while, and many have noted that Twitter has a habit of “adopting” Facebook’s more successful practices. The latest appears to be auto-play video ads, but it seems like Twitter is also adding in a dash of YouTube.
According to AdAdge, instead of having auto-play videos just keep going, only the first 6 seconds of a video will play. It appears, based on information from Digiday, that previews will be silent. This will make videos eye-catching without giving people heart attacks at 3 a.m. when their speakers start blaring. This will also help to prevent users from feeling like their Twitter feed has been taken over by ads and switching to an ad free third-party app, something that Facebook doesn’t have to worry about.
Much of what is to come is based on speculation since Twitter so far has declined to comment to several media sources on the matter, but it appears that advertisers will be able to upload up to 10 minutes of video. They will only be charged when someone clicks on an ad to see the whole thing, so advertisers won’t feel like they’re paying for videos no one is watching.
Twitter has been beta testing video ads, with Game of Thrones and House of Cards being prominent examples, although neither has the auto-play feature.
A special message from the White House.
https://t.co/YxFcHfA5qy
— House of Cards (@HouseofCards) December 1, 2014
Follow the Three Eyed Raven. Gain the power of #TheSight: https://t.co/9fNrrJIGHG
https://t.co/4RhAiTR9tw
— Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) November 25, 2014
Smaller bells, fewer whistles for normal users
It is believed that video for regular users will launch at around the same time as auto-play ads will, but regular users will get a slightly watered down experience. While they’ll be able to edit and publish from an app, it is expected that videos will be limited to around 20 seconds. Additionally, it’s unclear if they will also benefit from auto-play or they will show up like the videos in the tweets above. I suspect that it will depend on if Twitter puts ads at the beginning of users’ videos à la YouTube.
Image Credit: TechCrunch
