New York | The Wall Street Journal | The New York Times
A much-anticipated publishing partnership between Facebook and major news outlets such as The New York Times, BuzzFeed and National Geographic is on the eve of its debut, according to a report published Tuesday in New York.
On Wednesday, The New York Times is expected to begin publishing articles within Facebook as part of the social network’s “Instant Articles” program, a major shift that has been on the horizon since October, when late New York Times columnist David Carr described the initiative’s contours in his weekly column.
The partnership, which has gradually come into focus with successive media reports as its launch date approached, will purportedly reduce the amount of time readers have to wait for articles to load.
Although multiple reports described news organizations as wary of letting Facebook host their content, a Wall Street Journal article published Monday night provides insight as to why the offer might seem enticing. According to the report, Facebook is offering publishers 100 percent of the revenue for ads they sell themselves and 70 percent of the revenue for ads that the social networking giant sells against their content. Given Facebook’s reach and ad sales prowess, several news organizations appear to have accepted the deal:
While many news sites are struggling to make money off that growing mobile audience, Facebook is proving an ace at selling mobile ads. The company last year accounted for 35% of the mobile display advertising market, followed by Google Inc. which had 12%, according to eMarketer. Overall, including search and other forms of mobile advertising, Google had 37% market share to 18% for Facebook.
According to New York, the project remains shrouded in secrecy within The New York Times, with staffers describing it as “the confidential project.”
Update, 8:20 p.m.: A spokesperson for The New York Times declined to comment for this story.
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