User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/Intro to Wiki Modernization/@comment-27755354-20170306215031/@comment-20644-20170306224602

We're still testing this out, but autoplay ads are very likely the approach we will be taking. I can understand feeling like this is so we can scrape as much ad revenue off of the page as possible, especially after so many years of ad clutter. And of course, we are a revenue-supported company, so we do want to maximize revenue. But the only way to clean up ad clutter on the page using videos is if these ads auto-play.

(Note: before going any further, I want to make sure it's clear that there is a distinction between autoplay and auto-sound. We have no intention of using auto-sound videos. Those are obnoxious.)

It's important that I be as straightforward as possible about this: autoplay is probably the only way that modernization can work. When the videos autoplay, the ad in front of the video autoplays. That's where the high advertising value is going to come from. That's what we think will allow us to remove a lot ad placements across the page. When that happens, even if the video autoplays, the performance changes will be a net positive. The site will run better. So without autoplay, all we'd be talking about here is a new kind of content put onto the page. Which is neat, but videos are part of a much bigger project here. Because if we succeed with high value videos, we can modernize the entire site. We can look at what ads can be removed from the page. With fewer ads, we can make the site look and perform better overall.

Keep in mind too that not every page will have a featured video. In fact, the vast majority of Fandom wiki pages will not have one. We believe we can clean up ads across the entire site with relevant featured videos on the top pages of top wikis.

There are a few outstanding performance-related questions in this chain and a few others, so I'll be replying to those as well. Stay tuned for that.