Facebook Reportedly Nearing Deal With Publishers On “Instant Articles”

Facebook would let publishers keep all the revenue for ads they sell for their content hosted on the social network, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Facebook is apparently willing to give up advertising revenue to bring news to readers faster.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal today, the social network is offering to allow publishers to keep all the revenue from certain ads in exchange for posting their content on Facebook.

Facebook has been negotiating with major publishers to host their content for at least the last several months, with the expressed motive of improving the news reading experience for users, especially those frustrated by slow-loadings on mobile devices.

Content hosted directly on Facebook would load faster, but the cost to publishers in lost ad revenue and data could be significant.

So Facebook, according to the Journal citing people familiar with the matter, is offering to let publishers keep all of the proceeds from ads they sell against Facebook hosted content. Facebook would keep about 30% of ads it sells.

The Facebook hosted news content, called “Instant Articles,” could launch as early as this month with content from BuzzFeed, the New York Times, National Geographic and other publishers.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal (paywall).


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About the author

Martin Beck
Contributor
Martin Beck was Third Door Media's Social Media Reporter from March 2014 through December 2015.

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