Facebook Introduces New Features on the Audience Network
Facebook is following up their launch of the Audience Network with an expansion of ad formats that, according to the social network, will provide better outcomes for advertisers and users. The feature expansion includes more extensive use of Native Video, as well as unique formats for interstitials.
According to Facebook representatives, these two are their best performing units in terms of driving engagement on the Facebook News Feed. Bringing them both off Facebook and onto their app monetization network will give app publishers more tools to present their products. It also helps Facebook gain revenue from the app market without directly competing with anyone.
Ad-ing Videos
The adoption of native video among ad publishers has skyrocketed in the past six months since the start of the year. The latest statistics say that as much as 80% of the impressions made on Audience Network were from ads that use Native Video.
Analysts however, advice users to take the numbers coming from Facebook regarding their services with a grain of salt. It’s already been proven that the success of Native Video on Facebook is due to Facebook’s algorithm favoring it over third party video embeds from sites such as YouTube. But, there isn’t any data on whether something similar is happening on the Audience Network as of the moment.
We Interrupt This App
The use of interstitial ads has been prevalent in apps from the very beginning. Facebook allows advertisers to display their products in two dynamic formats that they hope will engage users better. These formats are carousel and dynamic product ads.
Carousel interstitials give advertisers more product real estate without cluttering the screen, while the dynamic format makes it possible to release personalized ads. Facebook puts more focus on the latter, as it will allow advertisers to produce ads that are both relevant and timely.
Advertisers can even combine the two features by allowing native video capability on interstitial ads. The only difference is that the interstitial video will be a click-to-play feature rather than automatically engaging the user upon viewing.
The Audience Network is a big part of making app creation a success in modern mobile. Time will tell if these new features will attract more companies to advertise in apps that need the development money.