Overestimated video metrics by Facebook


The latest Facebook bombshell that the platform has for two years overestimated the average time that users watch video on the platform has rightfully sent shockwaves through the industry. It’s not a minor miscalculation either. Overestimation may have been as much as 60%-80%. New metrics have been brought in place to give transparency, but the issue that will linger lies in Facebook’s legacy of pissing advertisers off. 

The change several years ago to make brands pay to reach people they had already paid to acquire did just that, but the rise and rise of video on the platform, rapidly stealing share from YouTube as they did so, meant the big spenders weren’t going anywhere. The performance of video spoke for itself. We have now discovered that one of the key metrics to judge success was not accurate by a staggering percentage. Regardless of how effective Facebook video is now that the format is ingrained in our behaviour, it’s worth asking whether as much spend would have been pumped into it had we known the real data story.