Facebook Ads You Have to Watch Will Have People Dropping Like Flies

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Nicole Fabian-Weber 14 hours ago

I know there are tons of great things about Facebook -- it helps people keep in touch with those they love who are far away, etc. -- but let's be honest here, there are also a lot of annoying things about it. In fact, it seems like the more time that goes on, the more annoying Facebook gets. And I'm not talking about the users here. I'm talking about Facebook itself. The privacy issues that we can never quite get a clear answer on; the constant changing of format (and having to reset privacy settings); and now the video ads.

There's talk that video ads may be making their way to Facebook some time in the near future. Video ads you can't skip. Video ads you have to watch if you want to see photos of your friend's dinner or cousin's baby.

Not cool, Facebook, not cool at all.

To me, there are few things more annoying about the Internet than video ads you can't skip. They do it on YouTube all the time, and other random sites, but there's something ... I don't know ... a little different about doing it on Facebook.

Facebook is personal. Your Facebook feed is made up of your friends and family members. You created it. Something seems wrong about having to sit through an annoying video ad in order to see what the people in your life are up to.

I understand why unskippable video ads online exist from an advertiser's standpoint -- everyone fast-forwards through their commercials on their DVRs -- but from a Facebook standpoint, I think it's a really bad idea. I'm sure Zuckerberg et al. will rake in a ton o' cash from video ads, but I honestly think that this could be the beginning of the end for Facebook.

I was talking to someone over the weekend when the subject of this was brought up. She said, "Oh, I'd definitely leave Facebook if I had to watch a video every time I logged on. I check it when I'm in line at the grocery store!" And I think most will have the same mentality. Why spend 30 seconds of the minute you have to look through your feed on an obnoxious video ad? No thanks. It kind of defeats the point of site altogether. There isn't anything remotely personal about a video ad smack dab in the middle of your newsfeed.

What do you think of video ads on Facebook?

Image via gordontarpley/Flickr

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