Reddit Gets Auto-Play Video Ads on Web and Mobile

By Janko Roettgers

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Video ads are coming to Reddit: The self-proclaimed front page of the internet is starting to roll out native video advertising across its website and mobile apps. is launching the new ad format with some select partners, but plans to open it up to all advertisers later this summer.

Video ads are being natively hosted by Reddit, and served up as auto-play videos in the new Reddit card design. Reddit users can always opt to turn off auto-play if they prefer, said the company’s VP of brand partnerships Zubair Jandali. “We give users options on how to use them,” he said.

Reddit first began offering native video hosting last August. These videos have proven to be hugely popular, said Jandali, with hosted videos regularly receiving twice as many views as YouTube embeds — something that’s especially notable on the thousands of video-specific Subreddit communities. “Video content is incredibly popular on Reddit,” he said.

Reddit is offering advertisers native video ads on a cost per view basis, and is also offering video-only campaigns for the first time. “This is adding to the utility that we offer marketers,” Jandali said.

Reddit’s new video ads are optimized for the site’s new design, which it first launched in November of last year. Reddit began making the new design more widely available in April, and has since experimented with adding Subreddit-specific group chats to its site.