From the archive. First published in December 2017. Rewritten for clarity, with a note on what happened afterwards.
Facebook spent years saying it would not run pre-roll ads, the kind that play before a video starts, on the grounds that people hate them. In late 2017 it announced it would begin running them in 2018, capped at six seconds and limited to certain surfaces rather than the main feed.
How it turned out
Pre-roll never became the dominant format on Facebook that it is on YouTube. What took over instead was in-stream advertising inside longer videos, and then the wholesale shift to Reels, where advertising sits between clips rather than in front of a chosen video.
The strategic point is that Facebook needed a video advertising inventory that did not depend on people deliberately choosing a video to watch. Reels solved that: a continuous stream of short video with ad slots between items. By 2025 Meta was reporting that Reels over one minute accounted for more than half of Facebook watch time, and Reels time spent reached record levels through 2026.
What this means for a page
- Video monetisation favours watch time, not followers. This is the single biggest difference between video revenue and the old page model.
- Length behaves differently on Facebook than on Instagram. Analysis of 5.6 million Facebook Reels found engagement and views peaking at 120 to 180 seconds, while Instagram peaks at 45 to 60 seconds. If you cross post identical short clips to both, Facebook is the one losing out.
- Original video is now a policy requirement, not just good practice. Meta’s unoriginal content rules reduce distribution for accounts that repeatedly repost other people’s material.
If you are valuing a page today, a genuine video audience with real watch time is worth considerably more than a larger follower count attached to reposted images.
Thinking of selling?
We give free valuations with no obligation. Send us the page URL and a representative replies with a figure, usually within one business day. Looking to buy instead? Register as a buyer.
