Read original article on: Re/code
Continuing its effort in eclipsing YouTube’s video ad revenues, Facebook has announced a new initiative to start sharing ad revenue with some of its most popular video creators. Despite setting the revenue split at 55%-45%, the same ratio as YouTube, two significant differences set the two platforms apart for advertisers.
First, unlike YouTube, Facebook won’t run pre-roll ads, but instead will put video ads in between videos within its new “Suggested Videos” stream, a feature it started testing last week. It offers a stream of content, so a user might watch three videos before seeing an ad. An implication of this is that ad revenue on Facebook would be divided among multiple video creators, whereas on YouTube, the 55% of revenue split goes to a single creator.
Second, Facebook seems to be taking a stricter approach towards video monetization. Unlike on YouTube, where any user can easily add pre-roll ads to their videos with a few clicks, Facebook is only partnering with some established content creators like the NBA, Hearst, and Funny Or Die on this new revenue share program. Although it leaves out the rest of user-generated video content that usually dominates News Feed, such selective measures may help ensure the content quality of the video stream, therefore giving advertisers more control over the type of content that their ads would appear with.
