Facebook is testing poster-like ads for the Stories feature
Facebook today announced a test that allows some content creators to place poster-like ads across stories and get a portion of the revenue generated.
Facebook says the initial test is very small, but it hopes to expand it soon, and then apply the technology to all short videos on Facebook.
Facebook introduced the Stories feature on its platform four years ago as a way to encourage people to post content.
Yoav Arnstein, Director of Product Management at Facebook, said:
Testing poster-like ads across stories is still in the early conceptual stage.
The broader idea, he explained, is to give advertisers a natural fit for content, so that if someone posts a video from Yosemite National Park, a poster can advertise a local business.
And Arnstein says contextual relevance is likely key to making these ads successful.
The poster-like ads are one of the company's various updates to its platform for content makers.
Facebook is making regular in-stream ads available for shorter videos.
It was previously possible to monetize videos of three minutes or more through these ads, but now videos with a duration of one minute can receive ads, which are placed for 30 seconds in the content.
To qualify for these in-stream ads, your pages must have 600,000 total minutes of viewing from any combination of video uploads in the last 60 days, plus five or more active video uploads or previous live videos.
Meanwhile, live video makers must now have 60,000 minutes of live views in the last 60 days to monetize through in-stream ads, in addition to meeting VOD requirements.
Facebook is also spending $ 7 million to promote the Stars feature, which allows live content viewers to give tips via virtual stars, each of which pays the creator a cent.
The company provides free stars during some live broadcasts, viewers can send them to video hosts, and the team also offers virtual gifts that viewers can send.
Facebook is expanding its paid live events to 24 additional countries and fan subscriptions in 10 other countries, and the company will not receive profits from either of these features until at least August 2021.