NEW YORK — Facebook on Tuesday said it is testing video advertisements that show up in its users’ news feeds, creating another potential source of advertising revenue for the social network.
Under the plan, the ads automatically start playing without sound when they appear. Users can click on a video to view it with sound or scroll past it if they’re not interested.
Facebook said it has been testing the silent auto-playing videos for video content shared among Facebook users since September and has seen a 10 percent increase in the number of videos watched, liked, shared and commented on.
Facebook said the new format will allow its advertisers to reach a large number of people in a short amount of time, while also improving the quality of ads its users see in their news feeds.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company emphasized that the idea is still in the testing phase and that it isn’t yet selling video ads.
