Facebook rolls auto-play video ads into more countries

One of Facebook's auto-play video ads on a mobile device.While people in the US have been seeing Facebook's new auto-play video ads over the past couple of months, users in a few other countries will also now catch a glimpse of the ads popping up in their News Feeds.
The social network announced Tuesday that it's launching its "premium video ads" in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK. These 15-second ads play without sound until clicked on -- at which point, they expand into full-screen view and play with sound.
Facebook modeled these ads after television spots and they're meant to give advertisers with deep pockets -- the ads reportedly cost anywhere from $1 million to $2.5 million per day -- access to the broadest swath of Facebook users at specific intervals during the day.Unlike other ads found on Facebook, premium video ads are vetted for creative quality and "watchability" before they reach users' feeds. Facebook said it's working with a company called Ace Metrix to review the premium spots before they go live on the social network.
Facebook first began testing the video ads last December and then rolled them out to US users in March. Eventually, the social network intends for all of its 1.23 billion members to see the ads.
People living in the newly announced countries can expect to see premium video ads in their Web and mobile News Feed over the next few months. The company is currently working with a small number of advertisers as it continues to monitor how members respond to the ads.
"With Premium Video Ads, brands now have another way of engaging people on Facebook with compelling video experiences," Facebook said in a blog post Tuesday. "This limited introduction allows us to concentrate our efforts on a smaller number of advertisers with high-quality campaigns to create the best possible experience on Facebook.