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YouTube Adds Vertical Video Ad Options, Moving with Usage Trends
Not everyone’s a fan of the vertical video format, but the usage stats don’t lie, and with more users becoming more accustomed to viewing content without having to turn their devices sideways, online video leader YouTube has been slowly adding in more features to align with the trend. Their latest announcement on this front comes in the form of new vertical video ad units, which will enable brands to capitalize on full-length presentation.
“Advertisers can now snap up slots that fill up a users’ screen when they’re viewing content on YouTube’s mobile app in a similar way to the ads served by the likes of Instagram and Snapchat. […] Hyundai is among the brands to have trialed the new creative format, which expands based on the dimensions of the video.”
As noted, with the growth of the vertical Stories format, the addition makes perfect sense. YouTube had initially resisted making the switch to accommodate vertical content, but has since added in a range of support options, and with that, the logic of introducing vertical ad units seems like a bit of a no-brainer. More than 70% of YouTube watch time happens on mobile devices, and while YouTube hasn’t provided specific stats on vertical viewing, the announcement would suggest that it’s also rising significantly.
In addition, YouTube has also announced that brands will soon be able to buy ads which appear in user home feeds, capitalizing on YouTube’s recommendation engine. Again, as per The Drum, the amount of watch time driven by recommendations on YouTube’s home feed has grown three-fold over the past three years, amounting to another opportunity to maximize ad response.
You may not personally like vertical video content, and video creators, in particular, tend to dislike the quality concessions they need to make for the format. But again, the stats don’t lie. It could be in your best interests to start investigating ways to tap into the ‘taller’ video form.
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New Report Shows People Continue to Get News from Social Media, Even Amid Accuracy Concerns
With all the discussion around how social platforms can be used to fuel divisions within society by facilitating the spread of fake news, and reinforcing filter bubbles due to algorithms showing users more of what they agree with, the latest Pew Research study on social media news consumption comes at an important time, and underlines, yet again, why this is a significant area of concern.
According to Pew’s latest data, which incorporates responses from more than 4,500 Americans, 68% of American adults say that they now get at least some news coverage from social media, making it an influential source of updates on the latest issues and affairs.
Facebook Renames its Immersive ‘Canvas’ Ads and Provides New Engagement Options
Facebook is giving its immersive Canvas ad option an update, with a new name, some new back-end tweaks to improve load time and performance, and new creative template options to make them easier than ever to implement.
Canvas ads, which Facebook rolled out to all advertisers back in 2016, essentially offer a mini-website experience within Facebook itself, with the ads taking up the whole screen when clicked.
