Facebook Is Becoming YouTube With Mid-Roll Video Ads

We knew they were coming sooner or later, and now ads in Facebook videos seem to be right around the corner. A new report claims that Facebook will soon put mid-roll ads in News Feed videos, splitting the revenue with content creators. This is a big step in Facebook's effort to pull content publishers away from YouTube, though even with ad revenue streaming in for creators, Facebook still has its work cut out for it.

Industry sources tell Recode that Facebook will be ready to implement mid-roll ads across the site soon. This strategy stands in stark contrast to pre-roll ads, something which YouTube allows but Facebook does not. While it sounds like a wide range of content creators will be able to put ads in their videos, there are a few exceptions.

For instance, you'll only be able to place these mid-rolls ads in your video after they've played for 20 seconds. Your video will also need to be at least 90 seconds in length in order to qualify for monetization. This means Facebook will be looking to publishers to produce more substantial content on the platform, as opposed to the short clips we're used to seeing.

Assuming your video meets to the requirements, you'll be able to insert an ad into it. According to Recode's sources, Facebook will give 55% of the ad revenue to creators, which is the same amount they'll get over at YouTube. That's an interesting decision on Facebook's part, because as the up-and-comer in this scenario, you'd think it would offer publishers a higher percentage of the ad revenue as a way of luring them away from YouTube.

Another question is whether or not Facebook will try to bolster its takedown and copyright systems with videos now eligible to insert ads. There's no word yet on when, precisely, these ads will roll out, but don't be surprised to see them appearing soon. Facebook will likely make an official announcement when it launches mid-roll ads, so stay tuned for that.

SOURCE: Recode