Will Facebook Pass YouTube In Video Ads?

Facebook Inc FB has been tweeking its autoplay video ad feature ahead of a full rollout. Investors are following Facebook's video ad rollout very closely as it represents an important revenue stream for Facebook. The company stands to benefit from the ongoing shift of marketing spend away from traditional sources (such as Television) to online sources. However, the competitive landscape is very intense with many social media giants competing to host ads. Google Inc GOOG GOOGL has been showing video ads prior to a YouTube video for some time. According to eMarketer, 77.8 percent of U.S. advertising executives noted that they ran a video ad campaign on YouTube in 2014. By contrast, only 63.0 percent of executives ran a video ad campaign on Facebook. 2015 will tell a different story. 81.5 percent of advertising executives indicated they plan to run a video ad campaign on YouTube, while 87.0 percent of executives plan to run a video ad campaign on Facebook. In fact, Facebook was ranked the highest of all social media sites. Facebook's other social media site ranked well, with 35.2 percent of respondents saying they will run video ad campaigns on Instagram versus 16.7 percent in 2014. eMarketer stated that ad executives are looking for more than just a platform that can host a video. They want users to take additional steps after seeing the placements. "Interactive video ads require an active response from viewers, and engaging with such elements was the most important metric for measuring the success of social video ads," the site noted. "Shares and conversions ranked second and third."