Meta expands Facebook Reels monetization with performance-based payout model

More monetization options are coming to Facebook Reels. More than a year after Meta introduced ads on the Facebook version of its short-form format, it is expanding payouts for select creators.

Under Meta’s new system, Facebook Reels ad payouts will be allocated based on a performance-based model. That means that creators will be paid based on the number of views their public short-form videos get — not the number of ads that run next to those clips.

In a blog post, Meta claimed that its payout structure will reduce volatility for creators without negatively impacting the amount of available ad inventory. Even if a Facebook Reel struggles to generate ad impressions, it will still be eligible for monetization.

“Payouts will be determined by the number of plays,” reads the post. “The better a creator’s reel performs, the more they can earn. Over time we may begin to incorporate other signals into payouts.”

Meta has long been interested in the earnings potential of its TikTok competitor. On the Instagram version of Reels, ad-based monetization has been in the works for at least two years. In February 2022, Facebook Reels initiated its own revshare program

by inviting creators to run overlay ads on their videos. Partners who opted in received 55% of the resulting revenue, with Facebook taking 45%.

In the year since initiating that program, Facebook has introduced additional ad formats, including “post-loop” spots announced last October. The platform’s latest update is another substantial one for Reels users: The blog post claimed that “thousands more creators” will be invited to test ads. Many of the newly-onboarded partners will be veterans of the Reels Play bonus program, which Facebook discontinued earlier this year.

Participants must meet the eligibility requirements laid out by Facebook. For the time being, Meta is only expanding its ad test on Facebook, though it indicated that “a similar program” will soon arrive on Instagram.

When Facebook introduced Reels ads last February, it initially restrict payouts to overlay ads rather than the “in-stream” variety. With its latest update, the social network indicated that “we also plan to start testing a performance-based payout model for In-Stream ads on Facebook with a small group of creators.”