Facebook Tests Ad-Serving Expansion On Facebook Watch: Just The Facts
Facebook is testing letting publishers sell ads through their own technology on Facebook Watch.
What Is Facebook Watch?
Facebook Watch is a channel on the social media site that populates video content based on users’ likes and interests.
Facebook is producing its own original footage to populate the page while welcoming other brands’ content.
The service engages about 75 million viewers per day out of 1.5 billion users who visit Facebook’s site daily.
How Is Facebook Testing Watch Partners’ Ads?
Facebook is exploring giving Watch partners the ability to sell ads through their own technology by connecting individual publishers’ technology directly into Facebook Watch.
The social media site is testing this option with a small group of partners, but specific details about these partners have not been released.
Why Is Facebook Testing Watch Partners’ Ad Technology Integration?
Plenty of digital publishers have begun allowing third-party technology to deliver ads. The Walt Disney Company and Google Ad Manager collaboration is a recent example. Allowing publishers to use their own ad technology may be Facebook’s way of giving publishers what they’re looking for, but also rivaling the competition.
Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented that Watch wasn’t performing as well as competitor platforms, saying, "While Watch is now growing very quickly, we're well behind YouTube and still working to make this a unique people-centric experience."
Facebook’s latest ad test may help to encourage more content on Facebook Watch, which may spark more user engagement and give the channel the power it needs to compete alongside staple video sites like YouTube.