What if you had to pay to read news on Facebook? Campbell Brown, head of news partnerships at Facebook, announced on July 18 that the social network will test a billing model known as a Paywall, in which media outlets can offer paid subscriptions to those who want to access restricted content.
How does news monetization work?
The tool will be tied to Instant Articles, which allows media organizations to publish content directly on Facebook. In addition to directing users to companies' pages and suggesting a subscription, it's possible to take advantage of the Porous Paywall, or “Metered” format—which allows up to ten free articles to be read—right in the Feed.
Benefits for the media
According to Brown, this new feature will finally benefit media outlets that have been asking for content monetization for some time. Facebook Brazil stated that it is taking the first step in negotiations with the media to determine the best way to support the subscription model. The testing phase is expected to begin in October and be fully implemented by 2018.
