Facebook launches instant full screen rich media ads called Canvas

Facebook has officially rolled out its Canvas ad platform. Canvas has been in testing since last year and has often been referred to as “instant ads” because of the way it mimics Facebook’s Instant Articles platform for publishers.

After instant articles, Facebook has announces instant mobile ads called “canvas”. Facebook had been testing this ad format since last year and has finally launched the format globally.

Advertisers can now create rich media ads which will run full screen in the Facebook app downloaded by millions of users across the globe. This is similar to the instant articles which loads instantly in the app. These ads will be a mix of video, still images, text and call-to-action buttons and create a media rich experience that will appeal to the mobile users. These ads are natively built and will be there on both android and iOS.

Chris Jones, the head of Facebook creative technology said – “We made the creative community a priority when we designed and built Canvas. It’s a product that represents our commitment to creative craft and delivering the best mobile experience for businesses and people.” Read the official blog post here. 

Facebook has continuously said that mobile is the next phase of its growth as mobile ads bring in 80% of the ad revenue. While testing Facebook found that Canvas ads kept users engaged for a longer period than regular ads. More than 50% users who saw a canvas ad, clicked on it.

Advertisers can learn more about it at https://canvas.facebook.com/ and start using the canvas via power editor from here.

Update August 2016: 
Here is an example of an Indian brand using this ad format:

Webeesocial is a full service creative digital marketing agency in New Delhi India.