Exclusive: Facebook To Expand Video Ads To Seven Countries Outside U.s.

[Ron Burgundy]

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is expanding its new video advertising service, allowing marketers to show the television-like spots to users of the social network in Britain, Brazil and five other countries, the company told Reuters. The move marks a significant ramping up of one of Facebook's most closely watched new advertising products, which analysts believe could help the Internet company capture a bigger slice of lucrative brand advertising budgets. The 15-second video ads appear in users' newsfeeds and play automatically with the sound muted until they are clicked on. Facebook began selling the ads in the United States in March to a small group of marketers including insurance company Progressive Corp and television broadcaster NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp. Facebook said the performance of the initial group of video ads in the United States has been strong, but declined to elaborate.

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