Facebook announced two new tools that will help video publishers have better control of how they are organized and shared on the site. These tools are enhanced video upload tools and a new video library.
The update to the video upload tools include a redesigned upload process and secret videos which prohibiting third party sites fro embedding video publishers content. Secret videos will only be accessed via a direct link and cannot be searched anywhere on Facebook.
In addition, video publishers can now control the viewership of their content by using filters like age and gender to restrict viewership of their content. They can also set an expiration date for a video but will still be able to retain the impressions & engagement information accrued from the post even if it expires. Another neat tool is that publishers will be able to publish the videos they create directly to the videos tab on their pages without necessarily showing it on the timeline.
Another set of tricks Facebook announced are all in the customization of the content: Publishers will be able to add custom thumbnails for videos so that their viewers can easily identify their content. There is also a tool that will make it easy to categorize the video content according to the various categories like comedy or news.
Finally, there is a Video Library where Publishers can organize and update their videos. Changes to these videos can be made en masse or individually. This can be accessed through the publishing tools tab on the publisher’s page.
Facebook wants to be a video publisher’s number one choice for a platform and from judging from year on year growth statistics, they are catching up on YouTube on this front. Although right now people associate video with YouTube, it would be wrong to dismiss Facebook’s efforts and it would be up-to the company to change this perception so as to reap the benefits by advertisers flocking to the platform.
The features are currently being rolled out to pages worldwide globally in the coming weeks according to the company.
