Facebook to make ad data available for independent audit

Social media giant plans to pay advertisers for video ads that have been viewed in their entirety

Facebook said it intends to make ad data available for independent audit this year to verify the accuracy of the information it delivers.

The move comes after the social networking giant admitted last year that it had overstated some ad metrics.

"We are committing to an audit by the Media Rating Council (MRC) to verify the accuracy of the information we deliver to our partners," Facebook said in a blog post on Friday.

"As a partner to over four million advertisers across a wide range of organisations and objectives, we want to provide transparency, choice, and accountability," Facebook said in the post detailing some measures that it plans to take over the course of the year.

Facebook said it will also start providing specific in-view and duration data for display ads, including milliseconds.

In addition, Facebook will also provide new video buying options later this year.

"We'll provide more choice for advertisers with three new buying options for video ads across Facebook, Instagram, and Audience Network," the post said.

One of these options will enable advertisers to pay for video ads that have been viewed in their entirety, for any duration up to ten seconds.