Here Is the Captivating Ad Format Facebook Hopes Will Wow Its Users

What if there were an ad that you just couldn't draw your eyes from? It's oddly captivating, almost hypnotic, and it would halt your thumb from scrolling farther down your Facebook feed. 

There's one such creative format that is only now catching on as the digital world's equivalent of the glossy magazine ad: cinemagraphs. And Facebook, along with its mobile photo network Instagram, wants more brands to try them out as it quietly introduces advertisers to the potential of this half-video, half-photograph style, according to digital marketing insiders.

"You're going to start seeing a ton of these on Facebook," said one advertising executive who has seen a guide produced by Facebook for marketers called "Hacking Facebook Autoplay."