Just last month, Facebook once again updated its News Feed algorithm- this time, to determine how we respond to video content.

In a blog post from late June, Facebook announced: “People who tend to watch more video in News Feed should expect to see more videos at the top of their feed.” By this, the company has decided to present a greater number of videos to those who routinely watch them, but also decrease the number for people who tend to skip over them. So if you want to see more videos appearing in your feed, keep hitting that play button. This follows on from the site’s announcement earlier in June, that its video-watching users could also expect to see more video advertising posts in their feeds, as opposed to image ads; it’s clear that this change will certainly help the site fine tune which users receive such content. Now, likes, comments and shares will still be taken into consideration, as well as if people actually watch the promoted video content, and for how long. However, links posted to video-sharing sites such as YouTube, won’t come into consideration, which potentially means that native Facebook videos will be given preference. With twice as many people watching video in their feeds than six months ago, we can see why Facebook wishes to implement this change. After all, algorithm tweaks have helped to declutter our feeds in the past, presenting us with the posts we want to see- therefore showing more video content to those most receptive to it surely makes sense.

We’re not sure how this will affect Facebook’s plans to roll out more auto-play video ads, as the company announced they would be doing back in March. Auto-play ads run automatically (as the name suggests), when viewers scroll down their feeds and expand to full screen when clicked on. We can’t say we’ve yet seen this feature on our own News Feeds- but presumably in line with the algorithm update, auto-play ads will simply roll out to users who view a greater amount of video content. We know though, that brands such as Macy’s and Chevrolet have already begun testing these video ads on their own business pages, showing that there’s perhaps huge potential for better video content.

So how can other marketers benefit? Firstly, the change could result in brands producing more compelling video ads in an attempt to draw more engaged users. Already this year, video engagement is up by 25%, showing the potential for targeting new viewers. The change will also force marketers to upload video content directly to their Facebook pages, as opposed to simply posting links from YouTube or Vimeo. With external links not taken into account in the algorithm change, we imagine advertisers gearing up to create more Facebook-specific videos. And with predicted revenue gains exceeding 1 billion dollars according to analysts, there’s reason for both Facebook and businesses to capitalize on video.

Do you prefer or engage more with Facebook’s video ads than image-based content? Do you think the algorithm update will be beneficial for marketers? We’d love to hear your thoughts as always, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital, and share your comments on our Facebook page.