Facebook has recently announced a handful of new updates to it’s video monetization program. These updates include: the ability to earn revenue from short-form content, monetization becoming available to more creators, and new monetization options for live streaming on Facebook.

Facebook has now expanded their ad formats from just in-stream ads to pre, mid, post-roll and image ads, as well as new formats specific to live streaming. One of the most important updates that Facebook announced here is the ability to monetize short-form videos that range from 60-180 seconds. For videos at this length, the video will be eligible for one interruptive ad running at 30 seconds. Videos that are three minutes or longer can be shown an ad 45 seconds in with automatic insertion. In addition, Facebook will begin testing the ability to monetize Facebook Stories with a limited amount of creators. Facebook hopes to expand Facebook Story monetization testing to a larger group of creators in the future.

Facebook has also updated their monetization eligibility criteria so that more creators will be able to monetize their videos on Facebook. To be eligible for monetization, Facebook Pages now must have 600,000 total minutes viewed from any combination of video uploads (on-demand, Live and previously Live)  in the last 60 days. Pages must also have 5 or more active video uploads or previously Live videos. These videos must be published, not deleted, and compliant with Facebook’s Content Monetization Policies. Pages also still must have at least 10,000 followers to be considered for monetization.

Finally, Facebook is expanding their live streaming monetization options and eligibility. To be eligible for in-stream ads on live streams, Facebook Pages must now have 60,000 Live minutes viewed in the last 60 days, in addition to meeting the video-on-demand program requirements listed above. Facebook has also updated an additional source of revenue for live streaming called Stars. Similar to YouTube’s Super Chat, Stars lets people highlight a message by donating Stars in the live chat. Viewers that send Stars senders will receive a special badge, and comments sent with Stars will visually stand out by being pinned inside the Live player where other viewers can see them.

As always, please don't hesitate to reach out to us with any questions about these new updates!