For the first time, Facebook edges out YouTube for video views according to the August comScore data just released.

While on the surface, Facebook having more video views than YouTube sounds very impressive, the reality is a lot less so.  The numbers take into account videos viewed on Facebook that autoplayed, something users have been complaining about since they made the change earlier this year.  And many Facebook users have autoplaying ads set to mute, so they might not even be aware a video is playing if their attention is focused elsewhere.  But for those who don’t realize that, it would make it seem that Facebook is the place to be for videos.

There is also the issue that Facebook Pages gives a much greater organic boost to posts that use Facebook videos that the user or company has uploaded over those posts that simply link to a YouTube video.

It also raises the question for potential advertisers.  How much value is an ad that auto-plays before an auto-playing video on Facebook compared to a YouTube video which is clicked through to or clicked on in order to start playing?  And that is something Facebook will need to address to advertisers as well.

However Facebook recently acquired LiveRail, in part to monetize their video views, so the changes Facebook has made to the videos on the platform, such as boosting organically any Facebook videos over YouTube ones as well as auto-play clearly shows that it is paying off for the social media company.

Here is the interview with comScore’s co-founder and chairman emeritus Gian Fulgoni on the findings.