Is Facebook really eating into YouTube's territory? The latter doesn't think so.

Facebook has begun pushing out video adverts to a small group of publishers in a bid to generate more revenue from ads as well as content.

The move has thrown the gauntlet to rival YouTube as Facebook's publishers will get 55 percent of the revenue from ads that run with their videos, which is the same rate that YouTube offers. However, YouTube is not panicking and thinks Facebook videos are not a threat.

The revenue sharing incentive will lure more content creators to make and publish videos on Facebook directly. The social network is looking to cash in on the fact that videos on its site are viewed 4 billion times per day.

In the past, video creators who published content on Facebook only had the advantage of being watched by a gigantic audience. If Facebook's test run (already rolled out for the Facebook iOS app with an Android app to follow) for a select few brands such as Fox Sports, NBA, Funny or Die, etc. is successful, then YouTube could be in for some serious competition.

"Facebook could now be very serious competition for YouTube," per Jan Rezab, CEO and co-founder of social media analytics company Socialbakers. "If I were Google, I would watch out."

However, YouTube is downplaying the imminent threat from Facebook and the service's head of content and business operations Robert Kyncl feels that since the online video space was growing at a rapid pace "it will be a decade before we bump into each other".

Kyncl is also of the opinion that the onset of Facebook and other players in the online video space is reflective of the fact that it is "becoming mainstream." However, this would not affect YouTube's position.

YouTube abides by the belief that both it and Facebook have a lot of space for growth in the ensuing years by capitalizing on the TV advertising market. The notion of Facebook displacing YouTube off its pedestal is dismissed by the latter.

Photo: Rego Korosi | Flickr