Watch Out, YouTube! Facebook Wants Your Video Action
It was only a matter of time before Facebook figured out a way to make money from the videos that are played on their platform. As Fortune points out, before now, video creators didn’t have a way to make money on the Facebook platform. That all changes today, with Facebook’s new plan to monetize videos and share the revenue with creators. The revenue arrangement is the same as YouTube’s: 55 percent of the money earned from ads goes to the creator, and 45 percent goes to Facebook. So far, the program has a couple of dozen partners who have signed up, including the NBA, Fox Sports, Hearst, and Funny or Die.
Related: Facebook gaining ground on YouTube in video ads, report says
Prior to the new plan, Feed videos would only play mutely until the user clicked on them. Now, when users play a video on mobile, they will get a feed of “Suggested Videos.” It’s not until a few of these videos play, that the user will see an actual ad. And these ads, unlike Facebook’s autoplay videos, will play with the sound turned on.
In the past few weeks, the social media giant has tested the “Suggested Videos” product with a small number of iOS users. Today the test goes wider, and will eventually expand to include Android and desktop users.
Unlike YouTube, which gives content creators 55 percent of the revenue from the ads it plays before videos, Facebook will divvy up the 55 percent in revenue among multiple creators or partners. For example, if you watched a three-minute video from the NBA, and a two-minute video from Funny or Die, the 55 percent in ad revenue would be split proportionately between the NBA and Funny or Die.
Related: Will Facebook Kill the News Media or Save It?
Industry experts fully expect video—especially mobile video—to be a major source of revenue for Facebook in the future since users already deliver four billion videos views daily. The company made $3.3 billion in ad revenue in the first quarter of 2015, 73 percent of it from mobile ads alone. For now, Facebook says it is focused on shorter video formats, not long-form video formats like TV shows and movies.
To date, YouTube has been the only major player in user-posted video, but Facebook is stepping up its game. It just announced to advertisers the option to pay for video ads only after a video has played for 10 seconds. It’s a response to announcements that Snapchat and Twitter are rolling out video divisions too. In May, Spotify added video-streaming to its music-streaming app. And Hulu, Yahoo, and AOL are also pushing their video strategies.
For content providers, it’s a new way to play—and pay.
Maybe Don’t Count Out Obamacare Repeal Just Yet
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) told reporters on Friday that he’s getting close to securing enough votes to pass the last-ditch ACA repeal and replacement bill he’s put forth with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dean Heller (R-NV) and Ron Johnson (R-WI).
“I am pretty confident we’ll get there on the Republican side,” Cassidy said. “We’re probably at 48-49 [votes] and talking to two or three more.” And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has asked the Congressional Budget Office to estimate the effects of the Cassidy-Graham bill, which would speed up the scoring process.
Of course, those last two or three votes have been the challenge for the GOP all along, and they may not be any easier to round up this time. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who voted for a prior repeal bill, said Friday that he won't support this one. Plus, opponents are already stepping up their criticisms about the effects of the bill. And time is running out: Cassidy and his colleagues only have until September 30 to pass the bill this year under a process that would require only 50 supporters in the Senate. So while the Obamacare repeal may still have life, it remains a longshot.
Orrin Hatch Signals Just How Complicated Tax Reform Will Be
GOP leaders said Wednesday that they'd issue a more detailed framework of their tax overhaul the week of September 25. But while lawmakers are eager to get more details about the outline being hashed out by the so-called Big Six team of negotiators, Republicans are still divided on key elements of the plan — going from blueprint to bill is bound to be a contentious process.
In his opening remarks at a Senate Finance Committee hearing today on individual tax reform, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said the plan from the Big Six — of which he is one — "will not dictate the direction" the tax-writing committee takes. "Anyone with any experience with the Senate Finance Committee knows that we are not anyone’s rubber stamp," he said. "If a bill – particularly on something as consequential as tax reform – is going to pass in this committee, the members of the committee will have to be involved in putting it together."
Oh, and remember: Republicans also need to agree on a budget before they can push through tax reform without Democratic votes.
Aging Baby Boomers Drive Down the Uninsured Rate
About 10,000 boomers turn 65 every day, becoming eligible for Medicare on their birthdays. The Census Bureau says that the sheer number of boomers entering Medicare is affecting the uninsured rate for the whole population. That rate fell to 8.8 percent in 2016, down from 9.1 percent a year earlier, with most of the decline driven by the aging of the post-war generation. (Wall Street Journal)
Social Security Kept 26.1 Million Out of Poverty Last Year
Social Security kept more than 26 million people out of poverty last year, according to a new report from the Census Bureau. Refundable tax credits such as the one for earned income kept 8.2 million people out of poverty, while food stamps lifted 3.6 million above the line, housing subsidies reduced the number of poor people by 3.1 million and unemployment insurance kept 680,000 out of poverty. Overall, the Census Bureau reported, the poverty rate was 12.7 percent, while a more sophisticated alternative measure that factors in government programs for low-income families put the rate at 13.9 percent, down from 14.5 percent in 2015.
Read more about the new Census Bureau numbers here.
Tax Reform on Menu for Trump's Dinner with Dems
President Trump is set to host three moderate Democratic senators for dinner on Tuesday as part of his push for tax reform, Politico reports. The Democrats on the guest list: Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, all of whom are up for reelection in 2018 in states Trump won last November. Vice President Mike Pence and GOP Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, John Thune of South Dakota and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania are also slated to attend.