Taking a page out of Google’s playbook (or should that be the Google Play book?), Facebook has now started testing its own version of ‘Play Instant’, which allows users to try out new games before installing them. The company is currently believed to be testing these new, interactive ads in the News Feed with a ‘couple dozen’ game developers.
According to Kelly MacLean, the director of brand and video at Facebook, the new ad-format will give its users more hands-on experience with games before installing them, ensuring better choices. While for businesses, it will mean more ‘high-intent installs’.
“Game developers are leaders in digital, and people love to try before they buy. That’s why we’re working with gaming app marketers to test a new playable ad format in News Feed that lets people play a game before they install the app.”
Facebook is expected to reveal more details about it at the upcoming F8 2018 developer conference on May 1 and 2, with a wider roll-out apparently planned for later this year.
Meanwhile, according to Venture Beat, two game developers that have tested playable ads in beta already have had ‘positive experiences’ with it. That includes Miniclip CMO Nick Tsimpidaros, and Gram Games’ head of user acquisition, Tatyana Bogatyreva.
While the former says that his company’s playable ad resulted in a “three times higher click-through rate, 25 percent lower cost-per-install, and twice the return on ad spend” as opposed to the regular video ad, the latter said that the interactive ad format outperformed standard video ads “with a 25 percent to 30 percent ROAS gain over video after just a few optimizations and creative iterations”.
GIFs Courtesy: VentureBeat
