Facebook Watch extends ad breaks to all content creators meeting certain metrics

Facebook has rolled out its video content platform Facebook Watch globally just over a year after its US launch.

Watch is often portrayed as a rival to Google's YouTube, but it also competes against traditional TV channels as well as online outlets, including Netflix, Amazon Videoand Facebook's own Instagram TV.

While users will be able to choose from a range of shows – from both established brands and new players – and have the ability to view clips saved from their News Feeds, Facebook is planning to allow all content creators to feature advertising breaks, so long as they hit certain metrics.Until now, only select publishers had been given the opportunity.The revenue split will be 55% to the creators and 45% to Facebook.

To qualify, publishers must:

• Have created videos lasting longer than three minutes
• Have attracted more than 30,000 viewers who stayed for more than one minute when watching the content over the past two months
• Have more than 10,000 followers
• Be located in one of the countries where the ad break facility is available

The terms are expected to appeal to established independent video-makers,some of whom have been concernedat the way Google's YouTube has run its own advertising programme.

Currently, ad breaks are available in the US, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. In September, it will be expanding to Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Thailand, supporting English content and various local languages. In the coming months, availability will further expand to more countries and languages, Facebook announced in its blog.

Ad breaks currently include both mid-roll and pre-roll formats as well as image ads directly below the video – and whenever an ad break is shown, the publisher or creator earns a share of the resulting revenue. Publishers and creators can use the ads auto-insertion feature, where Facebook automatically selects the best placement for the ads in their videos, or they can select the potential placements themselves. More than 70% of mid-roll ads are viewed to completion on Facebook.

To access Watch on iOS and Android, look for the Watch icon in your shortcuts bar or the “more” bookmark. You can also find Watch on Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One and Oculus TV.