Facebook Instant Article Subscriptions Being Tested On Android

Facebook has confirmed that it’s going to start testing news subscription models in Instant Articles with a select group of publishers in the United States and Europe. This is going to happen over the next few weeks. The company has confirmed that the test is going to be rolled out on Android devices first.

It was first reported a couple of months back that Facebook could bring paywalled content to Instant Articles. It was an apparent bid to keep publishers happy as they were concerned about dwindling subscription revenues. Facebook confirmed in August that it’s going to add subscriptions to Instant Articles.

Facebook says that this is the result of the work that it has been doing with the Facebook Journalism Project. It’s listening to news publishers across the globe to under their needs and goals better.

Many publishers had identified subscriptions as the top priority which is why Facebook worked with a group of them to design, refine, and develop test news subscription models for Instant Articles.

Partners that are joining Facebook on this test include The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Telegraph, The Economist, The Boston Globe, and many more.

When a non-subscriber encounter a paywall within Instant Articles, they will be asked to subscribe to get access to the full content of that publisher. The transaction will take place on the publisher’s website if the user subscribers.

The publisher will get to keep 100 percent of the revenue. Facebook is going to test different variations of this to find out which one works best for both parties involved.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Web
Tags: Facebook, Instant Articles