Pinterest The Latest Social Media Platform To Add Video Advertisements

It was merely a matter of time before Pinterest joined its social media peers in hosting video advertisements on its own platform.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the image-discovery platform will begin displaying promoted videos that can run up to five minutes long. A beta version will be rolled out on Wednesday.

The video ads on Pinterest will appear as a preview in a user's feed and play as quickly or as slowly as the page is scrolled, the Wall Street Journal noted. By clicking on the preview box, a new page will appear, and the video ad will play with sound.

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Marketers can place up to six different "featured pins" that would highlight specific products that relate to the video.

Pinterest is unique compared to the other social media platforms since users spend time on the site to discover new ideas and browse the millions of images or "pins" available. As such, the company can better predict the user's interests based on their search history and favorite "pins" and deliver more relevant advertisements.

The decision to move toward video ads comes at a time when marketers are expected to shift budgets away from traditional advertisements spaces, such as TV, toward online and social media platforms.

The Wall Street Journal, citing data from research firm L2, noted that advertisers spent $7.7 billion on digital ads in 2015, and this figure is expected to rise to $12.82 billion in 2018.

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