NEW DELHI: Facebook has introduced a new product for publishers called Instant Articles to create fast, interactive articles on the social networking website.
Facebook product manager Michael Reckhow said, “As more people get their news on mobile devices, we want to make the experience faster and richer on Facebook. People share a lot of articles on Facebook, particularly on our mobile app. To date, however, these stories take an average of eight seconds to load, by far the slowest single content type on Facebook. Instant Articles makes the reading experience as much as ten times faster than standard mobile web articles.”
Along with a faster experience, Instant Articles introduced a suite of interactive features that allow publishers to bring their stories to life in new ways including zoom in and exploring high-resolution photos by tilting the smartphone. Auto-play videos will come alive as one scrolls through stories. One can explore interactive maps, listen to audio captions, and even like and comment on individual parts of an article in-line.
Reckhow added, “We designed Instant Articles to give publishers control over their stories, brand experience and monetization opportunities. Publishers can sell ads in their articles and keep the revenue, or they can choose to use Facebook’s Audience Network to monetize unsold inventory. Publishers will also have the ability to track data and traffic through comScore and other analytics tools.”
“Fundamentally, this is a tool that enables publishers to provide a better experience for their readers on Facebook. Instant Articles lets them deliver fast, interactive articles while maintaining control of their content and business models,” said Facebook chief product officer Chris Cox.
Facebook is working with nine launch partners for Instant Articles: The New York Times, National Geographic, BuzzFeed, NBC, The Atlantic, The Guardian, BBC, Spiegel and Bild.
The New York Times Company president and CEO Mark Thompson said, “The New York Times already has a significant and growing audience on Facebook. We’re participating in Instant Articles to explore ways of growing the number of Times users on Facebook, improving their experience of our journalism and deepening their engagement. We have a long tradition of meeting readers where they are and that means being available not just on our own sites, but on the social platforms frequented by many current and potential Times users.”
“It is great to see Facebook trailing new ways for quality journalism to flourish on mobile. The Guardian is keen to test how the new platform can provide an even more engaging experience for our readers. It is then vital that, over time, Instant Articles delivers recurring benefit for publishers, whose continued investment in original content underpins its success,” added Guardian News & Media international directorTony Danker.
Instant Articles launched with a special set of stories published by The New York Times, BuzzFeed, National Geographic, NBC and The Atlantic. Facebook will continue developing Instant Articles with its partners over the coming months and listening to feedback from readers to help improve the experience.
