Facebook is bringing in-stream ads to 1-minute Live videos, sticker ads to Stories and more.
Facebook is going all in to fill the TikTok-sized hole by giving creators new tools to make more money on the platform. The social media giant has broadly announced three new initiatives for creators to ‘diversify’ their revenue on Facebook—for everybody else, this means, more advertisements. Short-form video is a big focus and Facebook is very clear about this from the get-go.
For starters, Facebook is bringing in-stream ads to videos as short as one-minute long. Previously, these ads were limited to three-minute or longer videos. For creators it would entail even more flexibility when it comes to monetization while for everybody else—those who would consume this content—it would mean ads showing up as soon as 30 seconds while they’re into the said video. Facebook is also changing the time interval for ads in the case of videos that are three minutes or longer. These videos will now be eligible to show ads 45 seconds in.
Facebook is also working to bring ‘sticker ads’ to Stories providing another revenue stream for creators. While initially this would start with a small number of creators—the test group—Facebook said it hopes to soon expand to more creators while also opening it up for short-form videos.
Alongside expanding the types of videos that can be monetized on the platform, Facebook is also updating its eligibility criteria to allow more creators—especially those who make short-form videos—to make money off it. This is true for both video-on-demand as well as Live videos. For video-on-demand, a page must now have “600,000 total minutes viewed from any combination of video uploads in the last 60 days, and 5 or more active video uploads or previously Live videos.” Previously, only three-minute-long (or more) on-demand videos were considered. For Live videos, a creator must have “60,000 Live minutes viewed in the last 60 days, in addition to meeting the video-on-demand program requirements.” Previously, this was invite-only.
Lastly, Facebook said it will also invest $7 million over the next few months on free ‘Stars’ giveaways to boost creator visibility on the platform.
Facebook is not the only social media company ramping up its efforts on content monetization, especially for creators into short-form video. Snap Inc. is paying $1 million per day to creators for making viral content on Snapchat Spotlight. Additionally, Twitter also plans to start helping users earn money on the platform through ‘Super Follows.’
