Facebook starts with ‘instant articles’

Starting Wednesday, publishers will be able to host their articles directly on Facebook’s servers. That way, users don’t have to leave the Facebook ecosystem to read an article and wait for a website to load. The system only works through the iPhone app.

Facebook, in its own words, implemented the system in its iPhone app because it takes an average of eight seconds to load articles outside of the company’s mobile app, something that would be a thorn in the side for many users. In the in-app way, reading articles would be up to ten times faster than before.

To beat the fears of publishers, such as the fear that Facebook would keep all data for itself or claim the copyrights, the company shares all analytics with the publishers and the rights also remain with the publishers themselves. The Instant Articles system is also compatible with measurement tools from other providers, such as comScore, Omniture and Google Analytics. If the publisher itself places ads within the articles, the publisher retains all revenue from the ads. If the ads are sold through Facebook’s Audience Network, the company will withhold about 30 percent of sales from the ads, just as it does now, The Wallstreet Journal previously reported.

In addition to faster loading times from preloading the articles when scrolling through the normal news feed, the Facebook hosted sites will look the way the publishers want them to, with their own fonts and CSS. Publishers can also take advantage of ‘special’ options, such as embedding zoomable photos and posting videos. Facebook users can also post comments within the articles.

Nine content providers are already available through the new feature, including the New York Times, The Guardian, BBC News, Spiegel Online, Bild, The Atlantic and Buzzfeed. Facebook says that articles offered via Instant Articles are not favored in the news stream, but readers may already be doing so because the articles load faster.