Meta Platforms Inc. (META.O) announced several new ad formats on Tuesday. These new ad formats are meant to create new ways for the company to make money from its short video and business messaging products, which the company has said are critical to its growth this year.
In a blog post, META said it was testing a new skippable “post-loop” video ad format that would play after its short video product Reels, which is similar to TikTok and has been heavily promoted.
The post said another new Reels format is carousel ads that can be scrolled horizontally and show between two and ten images at the bottom of a Reel.
At a press event, Meta executives discussed the company’s business plan. They said the new formats could attract Reels creators by giving them ways to make money from ads placed next to their videos.
The executives also discussed ads that let businesses start direct chats with potential customers. They said that Meta can now use artificial intelligence to ensure that the ads target either new customers or those who are most likely to buy.
The company said that AI would also be used to choose the ads in Instagram users’ feeds. They said that internal research with 400,000 advertisers showed that this method led to more user purchases than other feed ads.
The blog post also said that Meta is adding new places for ads on Instagram, such as the “Explore” tab that users see when they search the app.
