Facebook apologizes for video miscalculation

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO (AA) – Facebook publicly apologized to advertisers Friday after it revealed a miscalculation considerably inflated the average video view times presented in reports to marketers over several years.

According to an official announcement from the company, a discrepancy was discovered in late August regarding how Facebook calculated the average number of views a video ad received.

The company counted a video as viewed if a user watched it for more than three seconds. In calculating how long a video was being viewed on average, the company did not include users who watched a video for less than three seconds.

That made it appear the average video view per user was much longer than in reality.

“The miscalculation overstated this metric,” David Fischer, Facebook’s vice president of business and marketing partnerships, explained in a blog post. “While this is only one of the many metrics marketers look at, we take any mistake seriously.”

Facebook claimed the inaccurate metrics began in 2014. Many advertisers were incensed about the oversight, with ad agency Publicis Media claiming in a letter to clients that the average video viewing time had been overstated by 60 - 80 percent.

Fischer said that the problem had been fixed and apologized.

“We sincerely apologize for the issues this has created for our clients,” Fischer said. “This error should not stand in the way of our ultimate goal, which is to do what’s in the best interest of our partners and their business growth. We can only be successful if we’re providing clients with the tools to drive their business forward, and we’ll continue to deliver on that promise.”

Facebook has aggressively pursued digital video on its site in the past few years.