Facebook adds auto captioning for video ads

In mobile-feed environments, people prefer having the choice to opt in to sound. Facebook has introduced several new features for video ads by offering an automated captioning tool.People now watch over 100 million hours of video on Facebook each day, and each moment counts for advertisers. Research from the company found that 80% of its users react negatively to video ads autoplaying with sound on when they aren’t expecting it. Therefore, it will now automatically generate written captions for video ads that advertisers submit while they are also able to review and edit the captions before posting the video ads.According to its internal data, Facebook says the captioning boosted view time by 12%.The addition could be a new way for marketers to use the silent autoplay feature while getting more messaging across.The social network has also introduced new metrics for brands deploying video ads, along with the global availability of 100% in-view ad buying and verified analytics from Moat, the latter two of which were initially announced last September."Creatively, mobile video draws on the craft skills and experience we’ve developed as an industry building for film, TV and the traditional web and compresses them into a new form designed to immediately connect with an audience; we call this connection the 3-second audition. This audition often takes place without sound so it’s important we use typography, graphics and subtitles to communicate our story so it resonates anywhere, anytime.” said Mark D’Arcy, chief creative officer of creative shop at Facebook.Initially, the automated captions will only be available in English.