Facebook is trialling a new technology that allow videos to play automatically on mobile versions of its news feed.
The videos will play silently once they appear in the news feed, while the sound can be enabled in full screen mode by tapping on the video.
Videos uploaded directly by individuals, verified pages, or musician and band pages would play automatically, while videos uploaded as adverts and shared via third-party apps would require the user to tap them to play.
Currently being offered for small group of iOS and Android users in the US, the trial would boost the prospects of Facebook video ads.
The social networking site’s Kelly Mayes said: "Now when you see a video in the news feed, it comes to life and starts playing.
"Videos initially play silently, and if you want you can tap to play with sound in full screen.
"Scroll past if you don’t want to watch."
Facebook would also reportedly charge $1m to $2.4m for brand marketers to display their 15-second auto-play video ads on its site.
The latest function is similar to Instagram and Vine apps that start playing videos soon after they appear in their respective feeds.
Facebook has recently launched Keyword Insights API and Public Feed API for news organisations, to allow tracking of all posts on the social networking site, incorporating them into broadcasts for real-time online viewing or on TV.
