Twitter Moves To Auto-Play Mode For Posted Videos
By KYW social media editor Melony Roy
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (CBS) -- Twitter, the 140-character messaging service, has been testing a video auto-play function for several months, and now is ready to take on the dominant forces in online video advertising, like Facebook and Google.
When users scroll through their Twitter feeds and see a video, it will begin to automatically play, with the sound muted. Clicking on the video will play it in its entirety, in full screen, with sound.
The auto-play function will apply to all video content uploaded directly to Twitter by any user, including GIFs and six-second Vines.
Despite the risk of frustrating some users, the auto-play video feature represents a big financial opportunity for the company.
Twitter recently reported disappointing first-quarter results. And just last week, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo stepped down amid pressure from investors who are worried about the company's future growth.
Competitor Facebook introduced auto-play videos in 2013 and is now generating about four billion video views per day.
Research company eMarketer expects the online video market to top $7.7 billion this year, dominated by YouTube (now owned by Google).
