Facebook Video Ads Have Started To Roll Out, Coming To Facebook Live As Well

If you’re watching video on Facebook, get ready for viewing sessions to get slightly longer. Facebook announced Thursday that ads will now start to appear in videos that appear in your News Feed.

According to Recode, the ads — which appear in the middle of videos — will start to roll out with a small group of publishers as an early trial. Ads can only run after a video has been playing for 20 seconds and have to be spaced out by at least two minutes. Partners receive a 55 percent split of ad revenue, while Facebook will receive the remaining 45 percent.

“Publishers have historically been wary of video ads delivered from networks or exchanges because they can load slowly and are often unreliable,” Facebook said in a statement. “With Audience Network, advertisers upload their ads and bids to Facebook in advance—allowing us to quickly run an auction and return an ad that’s a good experience for the person watching it.”

The post is a formal rollout of news teased back in January, when Facebook was reportedly beginning to test the new video ad format.

Similar ads will also be available on Facebook livestreamed videos. As with publisher videos, Facebook Live midroll ads will be subject to several rules. Users with more than 2,000 followers and live videos with more than 300 concurrent viewers can qualify to use ad breaks. Ad breaks last for 20 seconds and can first be used after four minutes. Additional ad breaks can be taken following the first ad break in five minute intervals.

The news follows similar announcements from Facebook as the company ramps up its focus on video. In the past year, Facebook has made both small tweaks and major investments as it tries to make video an emphasis for daily Facebook users. The social media platform will launch a video-focused app for set-top boxes like the Apple TV and Amazon Fire this year and is reportedly looking into streaming Major League Baseball games during the 2017 season.