Online shopping ads may soon look very different. On March 26, 2026, Meta said it is testing new AI tools that can change a company’s product catalog into video ads. Instead of using only still pictures, advertisers can use their existing video materials as templates, and Meta’s system can create product videos for many items automatically. Meta is also testing new video layouts for product catalogs in Instagram Reels. (about.fb.com)
This matters because video is now a big part of how people use Meta’s apps. Meta says Reels watch time in the United States grew by more than 30% year over year in Q4 2025. It also says that 85% of the content reshared through Instagram messages is now Reels. In other words, people are not only watching short videos; they are also sending them to friends. Meta adds that 3.5 billion people are spending more time with creators and video across its apps. (about.fb.com)
Meta’s test results help explain why brands are interested. According to the company, ad sets with catalog product video showed 20% more conversions per dollar on average. Campaigns that showed catalog product video in Reels also had 33% more incremental conversions than campaigns that did not. At the same time, Meta is expanding other AI ad tools, including videos that look like creator-made posts, AI voiceovers, and easier translation for ad content. (about.fb.com)
For shoppers, this could mean ads that feel less like a dry list of products and more like short stories. For businesses, especially smaller ones, it could save time and money because they do not need to make every video by hand. Meta also says its earlier Advantage+ video tool, which can create a studio-style video from a single image, produced average gains of 10% in click-through rate and 8% in conversion rate in beta tests. These are Meta’s own numbers, so real results may differ, but the trend is clear: the old product catalog is starting to move, speak, and sell through AI-made video. (about.fb.com)










