Facebook’s launch of video ads is on hold again, as Ad Age reported that the social network has pulled the plug on its previously slated October debut, and it has not specified a new timetable.
Ad Age speculated that the use of Facebook video ads for Black Friday promotions may now be in jeopardy, adding that the factors holding back their debut include the social network’s concerns about how they will impact user experience, along with potential advertisers balking at the cost, said to be between $1 million and $2.4 million per day.
One potential advertiser told Ad Age:
It seems that every new ad unit within Facebook has some level of backlash from the user base for the first month. We’re hesitant to be first in the space for that reason.
There have also been rumblings that Facebook’s creative oversight over the video ads was adding to their potential price tags, but Digitas Vice President of Social Marketing Alex Jacobs didn’t see that as an issue, telling Ad Age:
It’s not as though Facebook is demanding that brands make custom TV-level-quality spots for their platform.
Bloomberg reported in July that the cost of the proposed video ads had jumped to $2.5 million per day from the $1 million price tag originally reported by Ad Age in April, adding that the spots would be 15 seconds in length, sold on a full-day basis, and targeted to users based on their ages and genders.
Facebook has yet to officially comment on video ads, but their launch date has been a moving target since the ad product was first reported last December, with Ad Age saying at the time that they would debut this past April.
In April, Ad Age pegged the launch date as June or July, and then in June, Ad Age reported that the project was on hold until “at least mid-October,” with sources telling the magazine more development was needed on new features Facebook planned to release simultaneously with video ads.
In July, Business Insider shared conflicting predictions, with Spruce Media CEO Rob Jewell pointing to the fourth quarter, while another source said video ads were tabled until at least 2014.
Readers: When do you think Facebook will finally launch video ads?
David Cohen on September 6, 2013