YouTube takes a swipe at Facebook over silent videos

YouTube has joined Snapchat in taking a swipe at Facebook over watching videos without sound. Both Facebook and Twitter autoplay video ads without sound, leaving users to click on specific videos and ad if they want to hear anything.

YouTube said that 96% of its users now watch video with the sound on and that this “has an impact on advertising”.

“People come to YouTube to watch video with the sound on. It is really important to not scroll with the sound off,” said Peter Cory, Google’s UK sales director, as he spoke at YouTube’s IAB event yesterday (21 October).

READ MORE: YouTube launches ‘snackable’ video ads in bid to lure in viewers

Cory said that viewers want to watch videos with the sound on, on all platforms, including mobile, which now makes up 50% of YouTube’s views globally.

Citing a recent case study with LG, YouTube highlighted that although Facebook delivered more views for campaign, more people stuck around and watched the video advertising on YouTube.

The video platform said that its average session length is now 40 minutes and that its “recommended videos” of what is coming next are becoming more tailored, something it believe will aid advertisers.

“People come to YouTube to watch video and they watch advertising on the back of it. The average session time is increasing and people are watching the full ads to get to the video they want to watch,” Corey said.

The news follows Snapchat making its own dig at Facebook. Speaking at Dmexco in Germany, Snapchat’s chief strategy officer Imran Khan said Snapchat’s “passion about sound” is what makes it stand out. He said that two-thirds of the ads played on its site are with sound and that “advertisers are paying video prices for a moving banner ad”.