Facebook takes on YouTube with embeddable video player

Facebook has taken a shot at YouTube by adding a new feature that allows users to embed videos on to other blogs and websites.

The announcement was made by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the social network's annual F8 developer conference in San Francisco.

The video-sharing feature is available from 25 March through a new embed button that displays at the bottom of video, much like with other video platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo.

Reports earlier in March claimed Facebook is in talks to host content from high-profile media partners, including Vice, National Geographic and the New York Times.

Another feature that Facebook is testing is auto-playing recommended videos when one has finished playing, similar to YouTube and other video platforms like Netflix.

In September 2014, the company announced it sees an average of one billion video views each day, helped in part by the autoplay feature introduced to the newsfeed in 2013.

The new features are likely to increase ad revenue for Facebook, with video emerging as one of the biggest markets for mobile advertising.

In 2014, video advertising on mobile devices in the US totaled $1.54bn (£1bn) and is expected to increase to $2.62 bn in 2015, according to eMarketer.

This would account for just over one-third of all digital video ad spending, while by 2019 mobile video is predicted to account for nearly half of all digital video ads.

Facebook is second only to Google, which owns YouTube, in terms of global digital advertising revenue.

To close the gap further, Facebook announced new capabilities at F8 to its LiveRail adtech platform, allowing it to monetize text content through banner ads.