🔗 Share this article Facebook Trials User Fees for Sharing Links, Potentially Dealing a Blow to Publishers Meta, the company behind Facebook, is running a small-scale trial where profiles without a paid subscription may be limited to posting just two external web links per month. Details of the Test This pilot program currently involves a subset of Facebook pages using Professional Mode features, which is often used by creators and influencers to earn money from their posts. While news organizations are not part of this test, the long-term implications could prove substantial. "Beginning 16 December, some Facebook accounts without Meta Verified will be restricted to posting two organic posts per month." Stepping Back from News This move follows Meta's multi-year strategic withdrawal from hosting news content. Industry analysts note that after ending deals to pay publishers and blocking news links in Canada, Meta has made it clear that news is no longer strategic. Publishers already experienced a massive drop in online traffic following a 2023 decision to de-prioritise news in favor of short-form and engaging video. Although visits were starting to rebound in 2024, it was still lower by around 50% compared to the previous year. The Push for Subscriptions The new test is seen as part of a broader campaign to encourage users to sign up for Meta Verified. This subscription service costs from £9.99 to almost four hundred pounds monthly and provides additional perks like a verified badge and improved account protection. Meta's spokesperson stated: "This is a small experiment to understand whether the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links provides extra benefit for Meta Verified subscribers." Some experts suggest this move to charge for reach may be linked to Meta's expensive ventures in other areas, like the virtual reality and AI. Could News Benefit Elsewhere? It is worth noting that earlier in the year, Meta stated it would take towards a more personalized approach for news and politics. Later reports indicated this may have led to more news content reappearing in feeds for some users. As one instance, visitors referred by Facebook to certain newspaper websites reportedly grew significantly in the early months of this year. In the end, this trial underscores the continuing struggle between social media platforms seeking new revenue streams and news organizations that depend upon them for traffic and audience reach.