Flipboard Becomes Latest Online Company to Embrace Video Advertising

Flipboard, a popular digital news magazine website and app, will now feature full-page video advertisements in addition to its regular content.

According to a September 15 Mashable article, the ads will differ from similar video ads on sites like Facebook and Spotify in that they won’t automatically play and will be muted by default. The video will play only when users hit the “play” button.

Flipboard, a four-year-old company that boasts more than 100 million users, will at first feature ads from eight brands: Sony Pictures, Gucci, Lufthansa, Jack Daniels, Principal Financial Group, Woodford Reserve, Conrad Hotels and Resorts and Chrysler, Mashable reports.

Sony, in particular, is taking advantage of Flipboard’s new video ad space by promoting the trailer for its new film “Fury,” which stars Brad Pitt, according to BidnessEtc.com.

“People just don’t know where this is headed,” says Bryan Bolan, Found and Creative Director of b-Mc Creative. “They see trends and they look at data, but the bottom line is that it is all about producing good content — that’s the most important thing.”

The move to embrace video advertising at Flipboard was catalyzed by the fact that video content “shows strong consumer engagement,” Flipboard’s head of advertising Christine Cook says.

As Flipboard’s approach to video advertising gives users the choice to view the ads or not, it will likely alienate fewer consumers than Facebook’s auto-play ads did when they were first introduced. However, it remains to be seen if Flipboard’s users will actively watch these video ads — or if they’ll ultimately skip past them to keep reading Flipboard’s content.