Facebook opens up video ad opportunities to more creators as it takes Watch global

Facebook is taking its video hub Watch global, but even bigger news for its video creators: it is now launching Ad Breaks across five markets — the US, UK Ireland, New Zealand and Australia. The company is also rolling out its Creator Studio globally, the video management tool that includes video performance metrics.

Monetizing video with 15-second Ad Breaks

Pages within the designated countries that have 10,000 or more followers and have been able to generate 30,000 one-minute video views in total over the past two months will now be able to monetize their videos with the expanded release of Ad Breaks. In September, Ad Breaks will be extended to 21 more countries, including Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, France, Germany, Spain and Mexico.

The in-stream ad unit runs up to 15-seconds long and includes both pre-roll and mid-roll formats, in addition to image ads displayed directly below the video, with publishers and creators earning a share of the ad revenue. Facebook has created an auto-insertion feature for creators that determines the best placement for the ad within their video; or, creators can select Ad Breaks placement themselves.

Ad Breaks were originally available by application only when they were first being tested in April. Now Pages can be onboarded for Ad Breaks via the Creator Studio that is being rolled out globally today.

Creator Studio for video available globally

Designed for publishers and creators to help them create and manage their video content, the Creators Studio tool also includes new loyalty insights with follower metrics, returning viewer data and time watched (separated into three-second views, one-minute views and completed views).

Watch user behavior stats still limited

Facebook has been making a push to bring in more video creators, as well as drive more traffic to the original programming featured on Watch. In April, when it began testing Ad Breaks, Facebook launched “preview” trailers for Watch shows that displayed within the News Feed. Two months later, the company opened up the Watch platform to creators to offer a broader audience beyond their Pages.

At the time, Facebook’s head of video Fidji Simo said Facebook was focused on three areas to support creators, “Helping them engage and grow their community, manage their presence, and build a business on Facebook.”

The company hasn’t released much meaningful data on Watch user behavior. With this announcement, Facebook said more than 50 million people in the US spend at least a minute viewing videos on Watch every month, and that the total time users spend on Watch has increased 14-times since the beginning of the year. Without a benchmark, it’s impossible to know what the average total watch time is now. Facebook did say 70 percent of mid-roll video ads viewed on its platform are watched to completion.

About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues is Third Door Media’s General Assignment Reporter, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs.com, SoftwareCEO.com, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy’s articles.