Facebook and Instagram experiment with mid-video ads

Facebook and Instagram users are about to see a major change in their video experience.

Mid-roll advertisements will soon break up what is currently a fairly streamlined and pleasant experience as the social media giant looks to further compete with YouTube as the dominant online video platform.

As part of the change, video publishers will stand to make money on their Facebook videos in a 55/45 split—the same figure as YouTube pays its content creators.

With the new ad product, marketers can insert a commercial 20 seconds into a video that lasts for 90 seconds or longer. For content producers, this means a shift in how videos are produced for the platform. It’ll be a challenge to captivate audiences enough in those 20 seconds to make them want to stick around for more.

Facebook had started the mid-roll advertisements as a test, but it’s expected to have a wide roll out early this year.