Facebook Is Testing Out Paywalls On Instant Articles

A new announcement by Facebook reveals that the social network will be implementing some changes with regards to one of its more popular services. It seems the social media giant is doing a new test that involves adding a paywall to its Instant Articles service. This means that some articles might require subscription fee payments to read.

Rumors of Facebook implementing a paywall for its Instant Articles service have been circulating the web for months, TechCrunch reports and was predicted to go live in October. It’s October and this is exactly what happened.

As to how it will work, it would seem that Facebook is giving publishers two paywall options to choose from. The first mimics how Google’s previous system worked, wherein readers will have a set amount of articles or content that they can consume for free. For Instant Articles, it would be ten.

The second option basically gives publications free reign as to which articles are free and which are paid. This is similar to what some major news media websites already employ, with exclusive or breaking news materials being hidden behind paywalls.

In the announcement blog post that Facebook put up regarding the new test, the social network wrote that the test will apply to US and Europe markets. The test will also only be available on Android devices, which makes sense since it is the more prolific model. It would also appear that the new test is due to the feedback that Facebook received from publishers.

“Earlier this year, many publishers identified subscriptions as a top priority, so we worked with a diverse group of partners to design, refine, and develop a test suited for a variety of premium news models. We also heard from publishers that maintaining control over pricing, offers, subscriber relationships, and 100% of the revenue are critical to their businesses, and this test is designed to do that,” the blog post reads.