‘Still not a huge leap’: Facebook’s video ad breaks program is showing signs of life

Facebook’s mid-roll video ad breaks are beginning to show signs of life, though publishers still need a high volume of views and engagement to generate meaningful revenue from the ad product.
Launched last March, the ad breaks program lets publishers make money by serving video ads inside videos that are at least three minutes long and with the ad not showing up until after the first minute. Along with Facebook Watch, the program is Facebook’s attempt to help publishers and other video makers monetize their video, especially after previous failed attempts such as Suggested Videos. While the mid-roll ad breaks are closer to the products found on YouTube and other long-form video platforms, the program was delivering scant revenue to publishers in 2017. That seems to be changing.