Adidas Not Buying Facebook Video Ads After Spending Review

The Adidas media team has "stopped buying video ads on Facebook and is reviewing whether to cut its spending there due to concerns that people aren't regularly viewing its ads," according to sources cited by Seb Joseph of DIGIDAY. Sources said that Adidas is "frustrated about the limited amount of data Facebook shares with its marketers to verify the efficacy of their ads, even as it becomes more expensive to advertise on the site." Up to 30% of what Adidas spends on Facebook "could be wasted." A review "uncovered enough waste to convince Adidas to pause its spending." One source said that viewability and retention rates for those ads "aren't high enough." The exec also said, "Adidas is spending a lot less on Facebook and is looking at bigger integrations insofar as if they do continue to spend on the platform, then it could be with publishers that have influence on the platform." Adidas "continues to work with Instagram," which is owned by Facebook (DIGIDAY.com, 5/8).