Facebook is launching a new ad format called "Slideshow" aimed at adapting video ads to emerging markets where slower, 2G internet connections are common.
The idea is to make it easier for small businesses with no video expertise to create engaging ad experiences that will work well even when people have spotty internet connections.
As the name would suggest, these ads won't be videos, per say, but slideshows of different pictures with text layered on top.
At this point, advertisers can't add sound, but Facebook says to "stay tuned" for more Slideshow improvements to come.
"Most people that come online and use Facebook today watch at least one video per day," Nikila Srinivasan, who heads up marketing for emerging markets, said at a press event Thursday.
The goal here is to make sure that brands and people in emerging markets can have those experiences, too, in a more light-weight way.
Facebook says that the file size of a 15-second Slideshow can be five times smaller than a video of the same length.
It's also much easier for advertisers to create: Instead of shooting and editing video, which can be time consuming and expensive, they can simply just stitch together photos (their own, or stock ones that Facebook provides), and quickly add text.
Slideshows can have up to seven photos, and run between five and 15 seconds in length.
Facebook says that when Coke tested out the beta version of the service, it turned a TV trailer that it showed in places with strong connections into a 7-slide Slideshow in Kenya.
It reached 2 million people.
