Twitter launches autoplay video
The new move is expected to boost Twitter’s advertising revenue and user engagement
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-06-21 00:39 GMT
Twitter will follow in the footsteps of Facebook in rolling out autoplay videos to engage more users and opening up the possibility of more ad generated revenue.
Despite having very engaging users on its platform, Twitter has been criticised for failing to monetise its following effectively. The new move could bring about changes with Twitter intending to bring the autoplay function for native videos, GIFs and Vines on the users’ timelines.
“During the autoplay tests we ran, we saw people engaging with videos in this new format at a much higher rate, and our brand and publishing partners saw improved view rates. All of this resulted in lower cost-per-views for marketers and increased video recall by consumers,” David Regan, senior product manager at Twitter, said in a post.
The videos will play automatically but on mute and by clicking it users can watch it on full-screen mode and add sound. The option to retweet, comment or favourite it will be available at any point of the video, Twitter said in an announcement. Twitter will roll out the changes on the iOS and the Web initially before extending to the Android platform.
While testing the autoplay function on a limited audience, it was found that users were 2.5 times more likely to prefer autoplay videos over its previous format. The test also revealed that a significant number of users watched promoted videos in full in autoplay mode. The autoplay function could be a welcome addition for Twitter, which only has a 0.87% market share of the $145 billion digital advertising globally despite its engaging users.
Twitter announced that once the changes are rolled out in full, marketers will only be charged when videos are visible in full on the user’s device and has been viewed by the viewer for more than three seconds. The micro-blogging site also announced it intends to work in tandem with third-party vendors in order to improve accuracy of its metrics on advertisements to gauge actual engagement of its ads and provide value to its marketers.