Facebook has decided to take a leaf out of YouTube’s book (yes, that was intentional).  Similar to how YouTube will offer you video suggestions after your video stops playing, Facebook will now also give you suggestions after you watch your video in the News Feed.  As of right now, this feature is only available to a test group for users on iOS and Android devices.  While a Facebook spokesperson explained that the new feature does not yet have a release date for wider availability, it is crystal clear that Facebook is amping up their video push.  

Reportedly, Facebook has given its News Feed algorithm a few tweaks to start offering higher quality videos, as well as simply adding more videos into user’s feeds.  By analyzing how many “Likes” or “Comments” a video receives, and how long users actually watch the video, Facebook’s goal is to more precisely identify which videos perform well, and which users are bigger video consumers.  

The release of this new feature is not a coincidence: In-feed video advertisements are being implemented into Facebook, and the results from these video analyses will be very useful in identifying which users will be the most responsive to video content (aka video ads).  Identifying these types of users will be a key factor in giving advertisers the results they want, while simultaneously shielding low-video users from being bombarded with content they have no interest in seeing. 

Mashable speculates that this recommended-video feature might also become a way to surface sponsored video content.  As an example, they hypothesize that once you are done watching a video your friend posted, Facebook might suggest another video sponsored by an advertiser or brand.  Regardless, it is clear that the social media giant wants everyone to watch videos.  If you already watch videos, then they want you to watch more.  Luckily, it seems that the recommended videos are user-generated by history and likes.  Of course, who knows how long that will last. 

Thanks to Mashable for the original story.