Meta enhances Reels ads with AR, measurement features

Meta is touting new augmented reality advertising on its Instagram Reels and Facebook Stories platforms, offering brands the ability to deploy filters and other experiences – but these new features can be audited by third-party measurement partners from the outset.

Why it matters

AR ads are time consuming to make but can be very popular in certain categories like beauty. While Meta isn’t reinventing the wheel here, the new formats are expanding to different parts of the site which are popular with a young target audience.

Meanwhile, measurement is now front and centre as it seeks to shake off last year’s slump and looks ahead to ad growth this year, with an eye on demonstrating its effectiveness to an ever more parsimonious client base.

What’s going on

TechCrunch reports that the social media giant unveiled these features at a recent IAB NewFronts demonstration:

• Working with the beauty retailer Sephora, Meta showed an early test of an “aura vibe” filter to sell fragrances.
• AR ads aren’t new for the company, but they can now appear on these two vital channels using short video formats, which has been taken to be a response to the rise of TikTok.
• The move constitutes another big encroachment on what had been Snap’s advertising territory.
• Other new ad formats are aimed at improving shoppability, such as Reel ads that feature a carousel of products to flick through rather than just one eventual destination.

Measurement

Given the importance of Reels to capture user trends, the company is also opening up to third-party measurement companies like IAS, MOAT and Double Verify.

It’s a slightly old-school solution compared to some of its more futuristic thinking around AI, whether for measurement or for ad generation.

Sourced from TechCrunch, WARC