Facebook is experimenting with commercial breaks during live videos

Facebook's livestreaming feature may soon start to look more like television -- commercial breaks and all.

The social network confirmed Tuesday that it is testing a new ad format in which sponsored videos can be inserted into Facebook Live streams in what are essentially 15-second commercial breaks.

“We’re running a small test where a group of publishers have the option to insert a short ad break in their Facebook Live videos,” the company said in a statement.

Facebook has hinted at the possibility of such ads for months as publishers have been left wondering how the social networking giant plans to make money off of its massive push into real-time video. The testing marks Facebook's first stab at advertising within the feature.

A spokesperson said Facebook will not share any revenue from the ads with participating publishers during these early stages. The company currently pays a group of publishers including BuzzFeed and the New York Times (along with Mashable) to stream a certain amount of video on the service.

The advertising breaks can be inserted anywhere in a given stream after the five-minute mark and last no more than 15 seconds, according to AdAge, which broke the story on Tuesday. Ads are currently being pulled from existing Facebook campaigns, but advertisers are allowed to opt out if they fear the promotions might be placed amongst potentially sensitive videos, the publication reported.

Facebook Live has gained prominence in recent months for its role in broadcasting widely-viewed graphic videos of police killings that have sparked protests across the country.

That's not exactly the type of fare most advertisers would like to have their brands stamped onto, but the service is also known as a home to more lightweight phenomena like "Chewbacca mom" and BuzzFeed's infamous watermelon stunt.

The mid-roll ads fit with Facebook's broader tastes when it comes to video advertising. The company has an aversion to pre-roll messages like the ones used by Google's YouTube and many other video platforms, which it says distract too much from the user experience. Instead, Facebook currently breaks up every two or three videos watched consecutively on the platform with an ad break.