Facebook introduces automatic captioning option for video ads

Facebook will offer advertisers the option to automatically caption video ads. The function will be made available worldwide in the coming weeks, but for now only works with English-language videos.

Currently, advertisers can caption their videos by baking them into the video file, or by uploading a separate caption file. Because video ads on Facebook are often viewed without sound, the social network wants to make it easier for advertisers to add subtitles. That should be done with a new automatic captioning tool, which will be available in the Facebook Ads Manager and Power Editor.

Advertisers must enable automatic captions when uploading their commercial. After the subtitles have been generated, they are shown a preview and adjustments can be made before publication. YouTube has been using auto-generated captions for its videos for several years, but users can enable them there themselves.

A test by Facebook would show that videos with subtitles are viewed longer. Viewing time would increase by an average of twelve percent. Facebook introduced video ads in late 2013. Commercials are played automatically without sound. The sound is only played when the user clicks or presses on the video.