Facebook finally looking to paid content as advertising comes under scrutiny
Facebook Inc.FB may soon help its users do something unfamiliar on the platform: pay for news.
The social-media giant is building a feature that would allow users to subscribe to publishers directly from the mobile app, according to people familiar with the matter. The feature, long-requested by publishers, is expected to roll out by the end of 2017, three of the people said.
Just yesterday, we wrote in Thematic Signals about the bill making its was through the House that would place restrictions on the use of data collection and tracking cookies used in what is called Programmatic Advertising. To say this is a big deal would be an understatement, considering this type of advertising accounts for nearly 4 our of every 5 display banner ads currently being run.
Today, we see Facebook looking to add in a subscription model to its platform that would allow publishers such as the Economist and Wall Street Journal to sell subscriptions directly on the platform. Coincidence? We think not since this bill has been discussed quite a bit lately. When one revenue source suddenly faces a potential headwind the potential, Facebook is pivoting as it has since its launch — one of the reasons it has performed so well in today’s Connected Society.
Top publishers urged Facebook to include a subscription option on Instant Articles before the format’s launch in May 2015. At the time, Facebook employees studied different subscription models, such as prompting users to visit a publisher’s website and subscribe after they have read a certain number of articles, according two people familiar with matter.The idea didn’t get off the ground partly because Facebook didn’t want to introduce barriers between its users and content, one of the people said. One of the goals of Instant Articles, in which media outlets publish stories directly on Facebook instead of linking back to their sites, was to speed up load times on mobile.
Source: Facebook Building Feature to Let Users Subscribe to News Publications – WSJ
