Facebook prioritises original video

Facebook has updated the way it ranks videos across its platform, further prioritising originality, videos that keep users engaged for longer periods of time and those which build loyal fanbases.

Originality forms an increasingly important role in how video is ranked across Facebook.

In the latest update to its video guidelines, the platform said it will “more strongly” limit distribution and monetisation of unoriginal or repurposed content from other sources “with limited or immaterial added value”.

It will also demote videos from pages that are involved in Sharing Schemes—programs run by content farms that compensate other page owners for posting content.

Elsewhere, videos that are sought out and drive repeat viewership, and videos that keep viewers engaged for longer, will be bumped up the news feed.

The changes will affect video distribution within the news feed, its video platform Facebook Watch and its ‘More Videos’ recommendations.

The changes are primarily aimed at improving content discoverability for users, according to the company.

However, the changes will also widen the distribution of content from video creators and media companies, in turn helping them monetise their content on the platform.

In a blog post announcing the changes, Facebook product management director David Miller wrote: “While there are numerous factors that determine video distribution on Facebook, these changes will benefit video distribution for Pages that create original content people want to watch and come back to.

“We’ll continue to improve video ranking to show videos that people value and to help great video makers reach more people on Facebook.”

Facebook invests in various longform original video series for its platform, including drama Sorry For Your Loss, Jada Pinkett Smith's Red Table Talk and Huda Kattan’s reality show Huda Boss.