Yesterday, Facebook announced that it will add auto-play video advertisements into private Facebook Messenger conversations — just a day after the company’s stock hit an all-time high of $199.58.
The move, which even the most polite users are calling “annoying,” shows that Facebook’s revenue strategy is still heavily ad-focused, and that Cambridge Analytica is merely a distant memory.
People thought advertisers would ditch Facebook…
In reality, advertisers started spending even more. In spite of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, advertising spending on Facebook increased 62% in the last quarter.
But to grow ad revenue (which hit $39.9B in 2017) even further, Facebook needed to find new advertising inventory — so it turned to Messenger.
Ch-ch-changes are coming to Facebook
Just not the kinds of changes you expected. Facebook has blitzed Messenger users with static ads for the past 18 months — now, it will add video ads. But the company doesn’t believe the ads will impact the user experience.
The manager of Messenger’s ad business confirmed that user experience remained a “top priority” — telling Quartz it would introduce video ads “gradually and thoughtfully.”
While the move may be unpopular with the masses, it’s unlikely that it will cut into the business’ bottom line — after all, the company’s revenue growth managed to accelerate despite a seemingly catastrophic campaign to #DeleteFacebook.
Because Facebook does whatever it wants…