Twitter introduces autoplay videos and talks up viewability standard for advertisers
Twitter has announced an update that will introduce auto-playing video and animated GIFs to users' timelines.
The update will initially be implemented on iOS and web with Android getting the changes at a later date.
The changes will mean all native videos, GIFs and Vines will automatically play with the sound muted by default, as is currently the case on Facebook and Instagram.
In a blog announcing the changes, Twitter senior product manager, David Regan, said that videos will now be larger and in a more media-centric format.
He also confirmed how advertisers will be charged for a video view, stating that a view of a video will “only be chargeable when a video is 100 per cent in-view on the user’s device, and has been watched for at least 3 seconds".
He added: “We’re putting this standard of 100 per cent viewability in place because we think it’s simply the right thing to do. If a video is not 100 per cent in-view, we don’t think an advertiser should be charged."
Regan also stated that tests revealed that autoplay generated more views and engagements for advertisers and concluded that the changes make Twitter “the premier platform for marketers to share and distribute the best video content in the world.”
On his own Twitter account, the social network's president of global revenue and partnerships, Adam Bain, talked up its viewability standards.
Why put this standard of 100% viewability in place? B/c it’s simply the right thing to do, and we know it will improve advertiser ROI.
— adam bain (@adambain) June 16, 2015
Social advertising manager at Manning Gottlieb OMD, Glynn Jones, welcomed the changes. He said: “As these rich media formats become ever more impactful in users' feeds, the importance of matching great content with highly relevant targeting becomes even more paramount."