What Happened
Facebook announced at its AdWeek event on Tuesday that it has hit the milestone of serving 4 million advertisers, adding 1 million advertisers in the past 6 months. COO Sheryl Sandberg cited the explosion in video ads and small business advertisers as key sources for growth. Facebook also expressed regret over the error that caused its reporting tool to inflate the average view time on marketers’ video ads, which the company disclosed last week.
In related news, the Menlo Park-based company also introduced two new features to its fast-loading, full-screen mobile ad unit Canvas ads. The social network is adding support for 360-degree videos to Canvas ads, which already support most rich media formats. Brazilian bank Itau has been testing the feature. Facebook is also letting advertisers link one Canvas ad to another, thus enabling brands to create a multipage experience to engage with users. Beats by Dre used the link feature to let people explore multiple Canvas ads that showcase its headphones in different colors.
What Brands Should Do
It makes sense for Facebook to add 360-degree video support in Canvas ads, as it fits perfectly with the focus on interactive rich media. And as long as video ads continue to drive ad revenue growth on Facebook, brand advertisers can expect to see video ads popping up in more of Facebook’s products. The two additions should help brand advertisers tell a more immersive and in-depth brand narrative with Canvas ads.
For more on how and why brands should consider Facebook’s Canvas ads, click here to read our Fast Forward analysis on the ad product.
