Image via Tomislav Pinter/ Shutterstock

I’m still pissed because I have to put up with banner ads in my Facebook news feed, the last thing I need are some freaking video ads that make my page load slower than a dog shitting peach seeds. I could care less what some local dentist, DirecTV or Hyundai have to say when I log on to Facebook, and I never read their stupid ads. I sure as hell won’t watch the videos Facebook plans to launch this summer. Not everyone can get super-high speed Internet, Mr. Zuckerberg. As a matter of fact, if the 15-second video ads cause my page to load too slow, it may be the straw that broke this camel’s back, and I just may ditch Facebook once and for all.

Like Facebook cares if I jump ship. It’s planning to charge $1 million a pop for the video ads. And since they’ll be on autoplay—user’s won’t have a choice whether or not to view them—the scheme may be the advertising industry’s answer to a world of DVRs and fast-forwarding. In fact, that’s precisely Facebook’s strategy. The company believes it can capture a significant share of advertising revenue currently being spent on television. The social network claims its daily audience is equal to three Super Bowls.

Upon launch, Facebook users will not be subjected to more than three video ads per day (thank God). The plan is to launch the ads on Facebook’s desktop version first before segueing the format to its mobile versions. In order to reach a large audience, Facebook is initially selling four daily summer “slots” to advertisers, each targeting a different demographic: Women older than 30, women younger than 30, men older than 30 and men younger than 30.  The possibility of $4 million a day in ad revenue—just from the initial video ad campaign—isn’t too shabby.

So I may bitch and moan about having to tolerate videos in my news feed, but it’s really genius, and shows us Facebook is starting to reach is marketing potential. So yes, we’re all a bunch of pawns, but HELLO, what did you think was going to happen?

Samantha Lile

Samantha Lile is a 2002 Missouri State University graduate of journalism and mass media. She has served as a reporter and editor for various newspapers throughout her journalism career. She made the leap into writing full-time after working for a major financial institution since 2000.

Because of her banking background, Samantha is knowledgeable in finance reporting, but is also strong in commentaries, personal profiles, youth studies, horticulture, history and entertainment-related works.

Samantha lives in Ozark, Mo. with her husband of nine years, four dogs and two cats.

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