Dive Brief:
- To more directly compete with YouTube, Facebook is testing a dedicated video channel.
- The video tab will appear on users’ home pages where they can store videos watched on the news feed, and also find videos posted by friends and pages they follow as well as recommended videos from Facebook’s algorithm.
- The social network has claimed its users watch more than four billion videos daily.
Dive Insight:
Facebook has been putting a greater emphasis on video recently including changing the news feed algorithm to emphasize video content and rolling out fresh video advertising options for marketers. The latest move is a dedicated video tab on users’ home pages, which puts Facebook’s video offering in more direct competition with Google-owned YouTube for both viewers and ad dollars
“This new videos section helps people discover, watch and share videos on Facebook that are relevant to them,” Will Cathcart, vice president of product management at Facebook, said in a blog post.
The video tab is currently being tested by a limited group of users.
One change Facebook made earlier this year was sharing ad revenue with video publishers, a move that signified the social media platform was interested in providing users with higher quality video. It’s also rolled out 360-degree videos, including a standalone app currently in development for the format.
