Facebook recently announced that they will soon be increasing pre-roll ads for videos on their platform. They also are now giving more detail on several new monetization tools and formats, as well as what types of videos will not be eligible for ads on the platform. Continue reading for the latest details on Facebook video monetization.

Facebook has been testing pre-roll ads on videos in their Facebook Watch section of the platform since early 2018. They will now be testing pre-roll ads in other areas of the platform where videos appear, like on a Facebook page timeline and in search results. In addition to more pre-roll ad testing, Facebook will also begin testing a show preview trailer format, designed to make episodic content more discoverable in News Feed.There are also two new monetization features that Facebook has announced. The first one is a feature that will automatically insert an ad break into an eligible video, based on the best time in a video detected by their system. The second new feature will give content creators the ability to submit their videos for monetization eligibility review, before they post the video. This will help make sure the video is fully monetized as soon as it goes live on Facebook.In addition to announcing these new monetization updates, Facebook has also updated their Monetization Eligibility Standards and Content Guidelines for Monetization in an effort to clarify what types of content will be ad eligible. As previously announced, videos that have sexual themes, depict violent or illegal activity, contain inappropriate language, or misappropriate children’s characters will not be eligible for monetization. In addition to those restrictions, Facebook has announced a few new types of content that will also not be eligible for monetization:

• Manufactured sharing and distribution schemes: Content partners with paid arrangements for Pages to methodically and inorganically share videos can no longer monetize views originating on the third party Pages.
• Formats unsuitable for an ad: When content partners use video formats for content that aren’t actually video – like static or minimal movement videos or content that just loops – they are creating experiences not intended for ad break monetization, according to Facebook.
• Limited editorialization of content: Facebook says that pages primarily distributing videos of repurposed clips from other sources with limited editorialization do not foster engaged, loyal communities in the way that Pages that produce and publish original, thematic or episodic videos do. Hence, these types of videos will not be eligible for monetization.

As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns regarding Facebook video monetization.