Facebook may get even more annoying with new mid-video ads

If I ever get to meet him (which I probably won’t), I have a lot to say to Mark Zuckerberg, and they’re not good things. And to make it worse, industry sources now report that Facebook may start inserting ads in the middle of videos that you watch on the social network. Pls, Mark, can we not.

We all know what Facebook wants to become: the king of videos. If I think about it, when I first started Facebook a decade or so ago, I rarely saw any videos on my feed. I simply did not have to worry about random videos playing without my permission as I scrolled down the app. Well, starting few years ago, Mark Zuckerberg’s video-centric initiatives became quite clear. Facebook introduced live-streaming features, video profiles, and a lot of clips of cats and dogs. It even added Snapchat-like features to its Messenger app, which, by the way, might literally be the worst thing I’ve ever used. The camera doesn’t focus properly. Ever. And it’s filled with bugs that just make you want to take your phone and bury it deep inside the Earth’s inner core.

At any rate, it looks like now that Facebook is more video-centric – for better or worse ­– Zuckerberg is ready to make some money out of it. The company had previously said that its users were watching 100 million hours of videos a day. Imagine how much you could make if you turn that sort of behavior into a business! Well, that’s exactly what might happen according to some reports.

Apparently, Facebook is testing a new mid-roll ad format, which lets video publishers insert an ad in between their clips. This means that in the future, after watching a video for 20 seconds or more, you might have to watch a commercial or two to continue with the video. Yes, it’s going to be very annoying. But this isn’t something new per se. YouTube has been doing it for a long time now.

Unlike major video platforms, Zuckerberg did not allow pre-roll video ads which run before a video starts, so ad revenue from Facebook clips was almost non-existent. According to sources, the decision to have mid-roll video ads in some clips comes after BuzzFeed executives complained that they weren’t making enough money from their Tasty videos. If Facebook does decide to have mid-video ads, it will only affect clips that run for at least 90 seconds, and the ad appears after the video runs for at least 20 seconds. The company will reportedly sell the ads and share 55 percent of all sales with publishers.

Though most of the videos that I see and watch on Facebook are shorter than 90 seconds, Facebook’s decision may become a bit of a nuisance. In all honesty though, if those vapid Tasty videos start carrying mid-video ads, I would gladly unlike their page.

What are your thoughts on Facebook’s rumored mid-roll ads? Let us know in the comments below!