Facebook introduces ‘Instant Articles’

Facebook has introduced ‘Instant Articles’, a new tool for publishers to create fast, interactive articles for social media platform. Launched in tie up with 9 publishers, The New York Times, National Geographic, BuzzFeed, NBC, The Atlantic,  The Guardian, BBC, Spiegel and Bild, Instant Articles will let them publish stories directly to the social network’s mobile news feeds.

Here is how it works

Facebook says Instant Articles will offer faster page load than the 8-second average taken by posts now.

It also introduces interactive features. For instance, users will be able to zoom in and explore high-resolution photos by tilting their phones.

Auto-play videos will come alive as they scroll through stories.

There will also be options to add interactive maps, listen to audio captions, and even like and comment on specific parts or sentences of an article.

Who is on board now?

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.

How will publishers benefit?

Instant Articles will give publishers control over their stories, brand experience and monetisation opportunities.

Publishers can sell ads in their articles and keep the revenue, or they can choose to use Facebook’s Audience Network to monetise unsold inventory.

Publishers will also have the ability to track data and traffic through comScore and other analytics tools.