Facebook begins testing advertisements on short video offering Reels

 

Facebook has said it will start testing ads on Instagram Reels, a short video offering, in India and other markets as it looks to help brands better engage with relevant audiences.

In July last year, Instagram had unveiled its new format 'Reels' in India that allows users to create and share short videos.

Reels and other short video platforms have seen strong growth userbase and time spent after the Indian government banned a number of apps with Chinese linkages, including popular short video TikTok. The monetisation efforts by Facebook would help the company tap into that opportunity.

In a blogpost on Thursday, Facebook said people are discovering and watching video in diverse formats across its family of apps, each offering distinct viewer and ad experiences.

"Today, we're announcing new topic targeting options within Facebook In-Stream video, testing of Instagram Reels Ads and other ad experiences in Facebook Stories to help increase opportunities for brands to better engage with relevant audiences," it added.

The social media giant said Instagram will begin testing Reels ads in India, Brazil, Germany and Australia with tests expanding to more countries in the coming months.

India is among the biggest markets for Facebook. According to government data, there are 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook users and 21 crore use Instagram.

A recent report by RedSeer had said Indian short-video platforms like ShareChat's Moj, Dailyhunt's Josh, MX TakaTak and others have managed to bring back 97 per cent of TikTok's user base on the back of aggressive marketing and user acquisition by these platforms.

Also, new users onboarded largely come from tier-II cities and beyond.

Facebook said the ads on Reels will be full-screen and immersive, similar to ads in Stories.

The ads can be up to 30 seconds and people can comment, like, view, save, share and skip them.

"Ninety per cent of people follow a business on Instagram, and people are already embracing Reels to discover new creators and businesses.

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