Facebook (FB) today announced a host of updates designed to get people to watch even more videos in their News Feeds. The news comes as the social network rolls out its “Suggested Videos” feature, something the company tested earlier this summer, to “most users” on its iPhone app.
Suggested Videos, you will remember, is Facebook’s “environment” for watching multiple videos in a row. This is key to how the company will monetize its fast-growing video viewership. When a person watches several videos in a row, Facebook serves advertisements between them. The ad revenue is split between the publishers whose videos were viewed during that session.
As I wrote in July, Facebook’s revenue split with creators is the same as YouTube’s: 55% of the money earned from ads goes to the creator and 45% to Facebook. The program launched with “a few dozen” partners, including Tastemade, the NBA, Hearst, Funny or Die, and Fox Sports.
“We’re pleased with initial results [of Suggested Videos], which show that people who have suggested videos are discovering and watching more new videos,” Will Cathcart, Facebook’s director of product management, wrote in a blog post.
The latest update includes two new features which will start as tests with small group of users: The ability to save videos to watch later, and the ability to pop out the video player and scroll the news feed while also watching videos. This kind of video “multi-tasking” has already proven popular on Tumblr, a social network owned by Yahoo (YHOO).
Saved videos will live in a special “Video” tab on the Facebook app and website. That section will include videos a user has saved, as well as videos shared by friends. This shows Facebook’s dedication to making Facebook video all about discovery. As I wrote in June, discovery is Facebook’s big advantage over other competitors:
“Video is watched when people are bored,” says Benjamin Ling, a venture capitalist who has worked at Google, YouTube, and Facebook. “Facebook is particularly good at curing boredom.” Where YouTube, owned by a search giant, makes it easy for people to find videos they’re looking for, Facebook can show people stuff they didn’t even know they wanted to see.
For more on Facebook’s video efforts, read the following Fortune stories:
Facebook’s Video Invasion
Facebook’s video monetization plan is here
Facebook unrolls new tool to help video owners stop “freebooting”
Facebook’s video push has two weak spots
Update: This story has been corrected to note that the Suggested Videos feature is only available on the iPhone.
