It seems like everyone wants to shove autoplaying videos in your face and now Twitter wants to join the ranks of Facebook and Instagram in the fight for your eyeballs.
According to Advertising Age, Twitter is now testing video advertisements that automatically play in your feed. The test applies to promoted video ads and hopes to see if users are more likely to watch videos if they play without a tap.
It’s fairly obvious that the answer will be an overwhelming ‘yup’ to that question, since a moving thing in your timeline is going to attract your attention fairly easily.
Twitter told Advertising Age that it was running the test for some iPhone and iPad users in the US. Since it’s a test, it means it might never make its way to your feed.
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It’s also interesting timing, with Twitter recently acquiring Periscope, an app that makes it easy to live stream video to your followers. Autoplaying video could be an interesting advantage there for the company as it takes on Meerkat.
As an avid Twitter user, I hope that this never sees the light of day. Autoplaying advertisements might be great to boost advertiser numbers, but it’s a kick in the teeth for those that use the service all day long.
➤ Twitter Starts Testing Autoplay Videos in iPhone, iPad Apps [Advertising Age]
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