Dive Brief:

• Facebook is conducting a global test pricing for large brand videos – they can choose to pay on a cost-per-impression basis, or a cost-per-view basis.
• The difference is the CPI is based on cost per 1,000 impressions of auto-play videos, under cost-per-view advertisers only pay after the video runs for at least 10 seconds.
• Testing the two options is a response to complaints from marketers.

Dive Insight:

After listening to advertisers’ concerns about how Facebook charges for auto-play video ads, Facebook is running a global test for large brand marketers using its Power Editor and API tools to manage campaigns. The current, and controversial, way Facebook charges for auto-play ads is on a cost per 1,000 impression basis calculated as soon as the ad shows up in a newsfeed, whether or not that video is viewed. Facebook is calling the new pricing model “cost-per-view,” and the advertiser is only charged after the video runs for at least 10 seconds. Neither approach guarantees a Facebook user actually watched the video, but cost-per-view does eliminate those users who immediately shut the video down.

Carolyn Everson, Vice President of Global Marketing, Facebook, said of the move, "One of the requests that we've been hearing in the market for quite some time is a way for our marketers to be able to buy based on guaranteed view. ... It's really for those marketers who value video views as the best proxy for a business objective."

Marketers using video for ads still have to navigate individual platforms to determine if campaigns are viable – Facebook consider a video “viewed” after three seconds, where YouTube counts the same video ad as viewed after 30 seconds.