Publishers eye Facebook as YouTube rival
Facebook announced earlier this week that it’s testing a new video section on its mobile app, which would allow users to find and watch videos much as they already do on YouTube. The section will be populated with content that’s been liked and saved by users, recommended by their friends and posted by pages they follow.
While still in an early testing phase, the section is a major departure from Facebook’s current approach of populating users’ news feeds with videos they didn’t even know they’d want to watch. Publishers that have already adopted Facebook to distribute video said they’re excited by the new video section, as well as improvements Facebook is making to its “suggested videos” tab.
“It’s smart for Facebook to provide video experiences for different audience groups and viewing expectations,” said Greg Gittrich, chief content officer at Vocativ, a millennial news site. “The bottom line is that it creates more opportunities for us to reach a large, diverse and engaged audience.”
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