AAPL Apple Inc

By Jack Marshall 

Get ready for more mobile video.

Apple Inc. and Google made tweaks to their popular mobile web browsers recently to enable video content to play automatically in web pages, provided audio is muted.

The changes could result in a boost in mobile video consumption for online publishers if they allow their videos to play automatically, and it could unlock new revenue opportunities as a result.

For marketers, the tweaks will enable them to automatically play video content when potential customers visit their websites.

"This could be a big deal for web video. I think when people start adjusting their video players and websites there will be a significant uptick for publishers in terms of video plays," said Jeroen Wijering, head of product at online video technology provider JW Player.

It's unclear how consumers will react to having videos play automatically on mobile webpages. Some industry observers suggest Facebook's introduction of autoplay video in its News Feeds has, perhaps, helped people acclimatize to the idea.

But, in addition to potentially being distracting to some web users, autoplay videos could also increase the amount of data people consume through their wireless plans, potentially resulting in extra data charges.

"If you're visiting a lot of sites with autoplay video then the bandwidth bill will be coming after that," Mr. Wijering said.

Apple added support for autoplay video in the latest version of its Safari mobile browser. That browser edition is included in the most recent version of the iOS operating system, iOS 10, which was released on Sept. 13.

Google added autoplay video support in version 53 of its Chrome for Android mobile web browser, released on Sept. 7.

Video technology companies have already begun experimenting with autoplay web video for those browsers, and evaluating whether to include it with products they offer publishers.

JW Player is in the process of adding autoplay options to its technology, which is currently used by major publishers including The Washington Post, Hearst, Vice and Mashable, Mr. Wijering said.

Rival online video platform Brightcove is also experimenting with and testing autoplay functionality, according to its chief technology officer, Albert Lai. "I think this will result in an increase in video plays and video use in general," Mr. Lai said.

Some major video publishers like ESPN and CNN say they're aware of the new autoplay support, but haven't begun using it yet.

Questions remain on how well publishers will be able to monetize autoplay web video. Brightcove's Mr. Lai said he was unsure if sophisticated online advertising technology systems would work with the feature.

Often, when an autoplay video is displayed on a desktop website a "pre-roll" video advertisement may precede it. It's unclear if that type of ad insertion will be possible in mobile browsers, despite the updates from Google and Apple.

Apple and Google did not respond to requests for comment.

What's more, some advertisers and advertising agencies say they don't want to pay for video ads if the audio is muted.

But there are ways publishers might attempt to monetize autoplay video without the use of complicated ad technology. Increasingly publishers and media companies are creating so called "branded content" on behalf of marketers, which publishers could play automatically on their sites, for example.

"I think this is a great opportunity for companies offering branded content to take advantage of, in a responsible manner," Mr. Lai said.

In that scenario, publishers and brands could potentially use an approach on their websites similar to what they've done with Facebook's autoplay and muted video.

"Facebook is already giving consumers a positive experience with autoplay," said Eli Chapman, managing director of media at digital agency R/GA.

"Brands know it's going to be muted and autoplay, so there's some opportunity there to repurpose that creative or to do similar things," Mr. Chapman added.

Write to Jack Marshall at Jack.Marshall@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2016 06:15 ET (10:15 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.