Twitter is currently testing a video feature that lets some videos play automatically when it's visible in someone's feed, according to an AdAge report. A small pool of U.S. users accessing the social network on an iOS device reported seeing videos start without hitting play earlier this week.



AdAge indicates that the test applies to Promoted Video ads, clips uploaded directly via Twitter's app and videos in its Amplify program, which helps brands like the NBA promote video clips with a teaser ad from a sponsor. Twitter is experimenting with two versions of the test: In one case, some users will see an entire video play on a loop, while others will see six seconds of a video teaser play in a loop.

However, videos posted from Twitter's six-second Vine app won't automatically play in feeds.

The move is part of an effort to take on sites like Google and more recently, Facebook

The move is part of an effort to take on sites like Google and more recently, Facebook, which dominate the online video space. Autoplay is an easy way for companies to grab a user's attention. It allows brands to no longer have to rely on a person clicking on a video to get the message across to users.

Facebook, which rolled out its own autoplay strategy in 2013, has seen big success with the concept. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said the site gets 3 billion video views each day. A video is considered "watched" if it plays for three seconds.