Facebook expands Watch service as user numbers grow

Bengaluru — Facebook says monthly users of its Watch video service have doubled since December, while announcing more partnerships with international broadcasters and publishers in its bid to take on Alphabet’s YouTube.

Some 720-million people monthly and 140-million daily now spend at least one minute daily on Facebook Watch, the company said, as it outlined the expansion of its money-generating Ad Breaks service into Canada and five new languages.

The company rolled out the video service globally in 2018, one year after it was launched in the US, and had 75-million people spending at least a minute on the service daily in December.

Facebook said it was partnering with global publishers to bring popular shows like The Voice Germany, Germany’s Next Top Model and match previews, as well as highlights of the Cricket World Cup, to the Watch platform.

The company, which is investing in its own “Originals” content for the service, is pushing ahead with the expansion into YouTube’s territory despite increasing scrutiny of how user-generated videos can serve as gateways for radicalisation.

Facebook has received flak from regulators over the past year for how it moderates content on its platforms and it has controls in place for publishers seeking to make money for their content through Ad Breaks.

To be eligible, pages need to have been creating three-minute videos that have generated more than 30,000 one-minute views in the past two months, have 10,000+ Facebook followers, and be located in a country where Ad Breaks is available.

All videos with ad breaks undergo a partially automated, partially human-driven review process aimed at ensuring it meets the company’s content guidelines.

Reuters