Facebook is testing “mid-roll” video advertising, where ads are played after a video has already started, according to news reports.
Tech news site Recode reports that the ads would probably first appear in Facebook videos by professional publishers.
The company has already been testing the ads that run in the middle of videos for its live-streaming product, Facebook Live, but the new effort would extend that program into regular videos.
Facebook will initially sell the ads and share the revenue with publishers, giving them 55% (the same split offered by YouTube).
Recode earlier reported the mid-roll ad test in Facebook videos, which only allows ads to appear once a viewer has watched a clip for 20 seconds in videos that run for at least 90 seconds, according to the report. Facebook is offering publishers 55% of the ad revenue, similar to YouTube, according to Recode.
Ads in videos will also be limited to 15 seconds in length, Marketing Land reported.
Facebook has so far declined to comment.