Taking a page out of Facebook’s playbook, Twitter has begun testing autoplaying videos on the timelines of a small group of users, AdAge first spotted. With the test, you may see videos playing without tapping a play button – and this means ads, too.
A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the test that’s occurring on Twitter’s iPhone and iPad apps. The autoplay test applies to Promoted Video ads, along with videos uploaded through Twitter’s mobile app through its new video service.Â
“We’re running a small test on a few variations on the video playback experience,” a Twitter spokesman said. The company didn’t detail when, or if, it plans to rollout the feature on a grand scale. However as investors begin pressuring Twitter for more advertising revenue, having users view advertisements more frequently could be the answer.
As part of the small test, some users are seeing entire videos automatically playing in a loop, while others are seeing looping 6-second autoplay previews teasing a video. Videos that originate in Vine, Twitter’s company’s 6-second-video app, will not play automatically on Twitter as part of this test.
Facebook kicked off the autoplaying video initiative in September 2013, averaging roughly 3 billion video views per day – including ads.
You can download Twitter’s iPhone and iPad app from the iTunes App Store.
Are you part of the limited test?
Source: AdAge