Facebook tests pre-roll video ads

san francisco — Just like YouTube, Facebook is also reportedly planning to test preroll video advertisements before the shows on Watch — its redesigned video platform for creators and publishers.

According to a report in AdAge on Saturday, the social media giant “plans to test pre-roll video ads at the start of Watch shows, according to advertisers who are familiar with the social network’s strategy”.

Facebook is yet to comment on the development.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, however, has long kept preroll ads off Facebook.

“We don’t need to do pre-roll because our model is not one where you come to Facebook to watch one piece of content, you come to look at a feed,” Zuckerberg said on a conference call with investors this year.

In August, Facebook introduced Watch with mid-roll ads, which run in the middle of the shows. The mid-rolls have delivered some positive results. Facebook has said mid-roll ads see a 70 per cent completion rate.

In an apparent bid to take on Google-owned YouTube, Facebook rolled out Watch. It will be available on mobile, desktop, laptop and in TV apps.

Facebook has also started to roll out funded shows on Watch. The social media giant last year launched ‘Video’ tab in the US which offered a predictable place to find videos on Facebook.