Facebook may soon start pushing ads between videos in collaboration with publishers

Many of us prefer watching videos released by publishers and studios on Facebook rather than YouTube as there are no annoying ads while watching them. But that may soon change as the social media giant is contemplating to test an ad format that will run between videos.

Ads may start appearing as soon as 20 seconds after a clip begins for videos that are 90 seconds or longer. Currently, publishers and studios limit their video selection on Facebook and avoid longer videos as they generate little or no profit from the platform.

While sponsored videos – that earn revenue – are prevalent on the site, they are not allowed to inject ads always and guarantee a stable source of revenue. If an ad revenue channel like YouTube is created for Facebook, companies would most likely post more videos on the platform.

Facebook revealed that until 2016 – since videos were started the platform – users have watched over 100 million hours per day. However, the makers of these videos did not make more money for their efforts even as their content had been shared thousands of times.

According to Recode, under the ongoing proposal, Facebook will offer to sell ads and share revenue with publishers, giving them 55% of all sales. It's close to the revenue share offered by YouTube, which currently dominates the online video ad business.

The requirement of the video timing to be 90 seconds highlights how Facebook is giving more importance to those who invest more time in watching videos, rather than the total number of videos they watch.