Advertising Audience Engagement
1 min read

Unimpressed with revenue, publishers want to sell their own ads on Facebook video shows

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Facebook’s ambitions to produce TV-like content has a problem: Creators still aren’t happy with the money they’re making off commercials and sponsorships Facebook sells. As a result, show makers are pushing Facebook to let them do the selling — and say they’re willing to take their shows to other platforms if the terms don’t improve.

Sources at four companies that have sold shows to Facebook, including one major media conglomerate and three digital publishers, said they have pushed Facebook to make it easier for them to sell mid-roll ads. They’ve also pushed Facebook on being able to sell sponsorships for Facebook Watch shows. Facebook has been hesitant to open up these opportunities, these sources said. “The response is always: ‘We’re considering it, but we’re not there yet,’” said one Facebook-funded shows partner.

Facebook is selling mid-roll ad breaks programmatically, according to two ad buyers. The company is hesitant to open up these slots to publishing partners because it prefers to sell ads based on user targeting, rather than contextual placements made through direct buys, publishing sources said.

Read more…