Facebook Tests Taking Non-Promoted Media Posts Out Of User Feeds, Outlets Report Massive Drop In Hits

The Hill reports:

Facebook is testing a new update that would move non-promoted posts out of users’ newsfeeds, which could be a major hit to media publishers who use the platform to bring traffic to their websites.

The changes are currently being tested in six countries including Slovakia, Serbia and Sri Lanka, according to Filip Struhárik, a journalist at Slovakian news outlet Dennik N.

The alternative version of Facebook shows non-promoted posts in a secondary feed, while Facebook’s primary feed prioritizes content from user’s friends and advertisements.

“Pages are seeing dramatic drops in organic reach,” Struhárik wrote. “The reach of several Facebook pages fell on Thursday and Friday by two-thirds compared to previous days.”

In the Facebook vernacular, a “Page” (as opposed to a profile) belongs to a business or high-profile personality.

Perhaps obviously, if instituted widely, this move would compel media outlets to pay Facebook to insert their stories into everybody’s feeds. They can do that now, but most “promoted” posts are currently from retailers and other businesses.

About 15% of JMG’s traffic arrives via my auto-posted Facebook links. Last year I attempted to test their promotion system but their algorithm rejected my post for reasons unknown. Got my $20 back, though.