Facebook News feature to expand beyond US
A Facebook News section that debuted late last year in the United States will be expanded in the next six months or so to more countries. Image: Courtesy of Facebook via AFP Relaxnews
A Facebook News section that debuted late last year in the United States will be expanded in the next six months or so to more countries, with top contenders said to be Brazil, Britain, France, Germany and India.
“In each country, we’ll pay news publishers to ensure their content is available in the new product,” Facebook global news partnerships vice president Campbell Brown said in a blog post on Tuesday.
“We will keep building new products and making global investments to help the news industry build long-lasting business models,” she added.
Facebook News is off to a “strong start” in the U.S., driving a significant amount of online traffic to publishers, according to Brown.
“Based on this progress, we are accelerating our plans to expand internationally,” Brown said.
News agencies have struggled to make money as ad revenue and people’s attention have shifted online, where stories are available free of charge in a dynamic criticized by publishers.
“Innovation is critical to building a sustainable news ecosystem,” Brown said. RGA
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