Los Angeles — In an attempt to bolster up its recently launched deals program, popular social media networking giant Facebook over the weekend introduced a new program that will now reward users who watch certain ads with Facebook Credits, the company’s virtual currency, which can be redeemed to purchase goods on Facebook Deals, the company’s new Groupon-like daily deals service.
Earn while you watch! Although, there are not any get rich quick schemes here that should prevent you from your daily Facebooking and Farmville tilling; albeit a selected few it will provide financial incentives if they view them, and initially, the average ad will yield one credit, which is equivalent to 10 cents.
Facebook plans to insert credits for watching sponsored videos within selected games and is a part of a broader test on 1% of Facebook pages on the right-hand side of the screen, an extension of users’ ability to earn Credits by performing other types of activities inside games, which has been available for the past year. CrowdStar, Digital Chocolate and Zynga are among the participating game publishers.
Users can utilize these bonuses for buying premium goods with this Facebook Credit at Facebook Deals. Facebook Deals are new Groupon-like daily deals service from the social media networking giant. However, this new feature will be applicable on only select advertisements.
Dan Greenberg, CEO of Sharethrough, says Facebook’s move represents “a step away from interruptive advertising.” Greenberg, whose clients include Microsoft and Nestle, says his network would not deliver traditional advertising but rather branded entertainment, which consumers will want to watch and share with friends.
Moreover, Facebook is also working towards integrating the services of Sharethrough, SocialVibe, Epic Media and SupersonicAds to stream ads on the program. TrialPay is also in the integration process, and if in, it will be responsible to provide Facebook with the analytics.
Additionally, Ad network TrialPlay has been providing the credits system inside Facebook since last year, including the deal to allow users to rent Warner Bros. “The Dark Knight.” Users have been able to earn credits inside games by performing such tasks as signing up for magazine subscriptions or buying items like flowers. That activity earned them credits eligible to be redeemed anywhere on Facebook.
“What we have discovered from millions of interactions is people like free stuff and now Facebook users can earn credits simply by participating with the advertiser to get that free stuff,” said CEO Jay Samit. “This kind of advertising satisfies what brands have been looking for–an opt-in experience with a reach greater than TV and highly targeted.”
The latest move is a resolution for low banner click rates faced by Facebook. Incentivizing consumers to watch ads is one solution for Facebook’s low banner click-through rates. The novel innovation is associated with Facebook amplifying its Credits program last week to let the users buy real goods from Facebook Credits rather than the virtual goods previously provided in the program.
Furthermore, the experiments on Facebook pages will run for the next several months in the US, UK, France, Germany and Canada, a spokesman said.