Facebook Starts Placing Autoplay Video Ads Inside Messenger

As pointed out by Recode, auto-playing video ads have started appearing inside Facebook Messenger for some users, right next to messages from friends and family. While they may generate more revenue for the social networking giant, seeing autoplay video ads next to private messages will certainly feel intrusive to many Facebook users.

In the past, Facebook has noted that it is running out of room for ads inside the Facebook app, and has therefore expand ads into Messenger and Marketplace.

Regarding the new video ads, Facebook Messenger’s ad business manager Stefanos Loukakos told the source that the company will closely monitor user behavior to determine if these ads turn people off. 

“Top priority for us is user experience,” he said from a beachside cabana at the Cannes Lions advertising festival on Tuesday. “So we don’t know yet [if these will work]. However, signs until now, when we tested basic ads, didn’t show any changes with how people used the platform or how many messages they send.” 

“Video might be a bit different, but we don’t believe so.”

The new video ads in Messenger started rolling out to people this week.