Facebook Goes YouTube With New Section, Suggested Videos, Ads

The added emphasis on video isn’t surprising given how video is quickly becoming Facebook’s most shared type of content – the company has said that it expects the News Feed to consist mostly of video within a year or two.

Facebook has been pushing video pretty hard lately and today is sharing its plans on making sure users have even more ways to watch tiny movies of their friends and from pages they follow.

Facebook’s also experimenting with a new designated video section, which will be noted by a little “play-button” icon wedged between “Requests” and “Notifications” on the bottom of the app (the “Messages” icon gets the boot).

It’s aimed at discovering new content – powered by all the information Facebook knows about you – and is a direct shot across the bow to YouTube. Now Facebook is stepping up its bid for the time viewers currently spend on YouTube and for the advertising dollars that come with it.

Facebook is testing “suggested” videos on iPhone which offer related videos after a user taps on a video from his or her News Feed.

Facebook says that it’s starting to test putting ads between a few of the clips, although the company didn’t give any info about what the revenue break-down will be (Re/code’s Kurt Wagner reported a 55% / 45% split, with the larger share going to creators, back in July).

Another feature Facebook is testing: the ability to watch a video in a floating screen while “simultaneously multitasking on Facebook”.

Letting you save videos to watch later, such as when you can’t use sound because you’re in a public space with no headphones.