NEW YORK — Facebook said Tuesday that it's testing video advertisements that show up in its users' news feeds, creating another potential source of advertising revenue for the social network.
Under the current plan, the advertisements automatically start playing without sound when they appear. Users can click on a video to view it with sound, or scroll past it if they're not interested.
Facebook said it's been testing the silent auto-playing videos for video content shared between Facebook users since September, and has since seen a 10 percent increase in the number of videos watched, liked, shared and commented on.
Facebook said the new format will allow its advertisers to reach a large number of people in a short amount of time, while also improving the quality of advertisements its users see in their news feeds.
The Menlo Park, Calif.-based company emphasized that the idea is still in the testing phase and that it's not currently selling video advertisements. The company wouldn't disclose pricing, but said its goal is for the test feature to become a premium advertising product designed to reach a large audience at specific times.