Twitter has begun testing auto-play video adverts in its iPhone and iPad apps, as the social network looks to copy the success of rival Facebook in video ad revenue.
The experiment will involve a “small percentage” of users that will begin to see video adverts pop-up as they scroll through their Twitter timelines on Apple mobile apps.
Twitter is reportedly testing two different types of auto-play adverts – with some users beginning to see full-length videos playing on repeat, while others will simply see a six-second preview of the main video on loop.
Like Facebook video ads, all videos will remain muted unless tapped by a user.
The news comes one month after Twitter launched a native video feature allowing companies to upload 30-second videos to the social network.
“We’re running a small test on a few variations in the video playback experience,” a spokesperson for Twitter confirmed.
The initial test, which will only affect users in the United States using the Twitter iPhone and iPad apps, will apply to Promoted Video ads which are currently being used by companies like ESPN and the NFL.
Videos posted through Twitter’s company’s six-second-video app, Vine, will not play automatically on Twitter as part of the test.