Facebook Testing News Subscriptions, But Not on iOS

Facebook on Thursday announced information technology's testing a news subscription tool designed to assist publishers brand some coin off their content.

Over the next few weeks, Android users who are browsing news on the Facebook app may run across a paywall prompting them to subscribe for full access to a publisher'southward content, Facebook Head of News Partnerships Campbell Brown, Head of News Production Alex Hardiman, and Production Director Sameera Salari wrote in a blog post.

The test will initially roll out on Android devices, but the trio said Facebook is hoping to aggrandize it in the near future. Recode on Thursday reported that Apple tree wanted its usual 30 pct cutting of subscription acquirement generated through the tool, but Facebook didn't agree to those terms since information technology wants the publishers to keep all the money. Thus, the feature is non launching on iOS—at least not right now.

Facebook said information technology'southward testing this with a "small-scale group of publishers" in the US and Europe, including The Boston Earth, The Economist, The Houston Chronicle, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Telegraph, The Baltimore Lord's day, The Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and The Washington Post. You might encounter a paywall if you've already read ten of a publisher'due south articles in a month, though publishers will likewise exist able to put specific articles behind a paywall.

If you decide to subscribe, you'll be sent to the publisher's website to consummate the transaction.

"The publisher will process the payment directly and continue 100 percent of the revenue," Brown, Hardiman, and Salari wrote. Subscription prices will vary as Facebook is letting publishers determine how much to charge.

Subscribers will get total access to the publisher's sites and apps. If you encounter a paywall but already have a subscription with that publisher, you'll exist able to enter your credentials to get full admission to their manufactures within Facebook.

The new Facebook tool comes after Google recently ended its controversial "First Click Free" policy, which required publishers to provide a minimum of iii free articles per day via Google Search and Google News before putting stories behind a paywall. Google is now merely recommending publishers offer users 10 articles per calendar month for gratuitous, which many already practise.

Almost Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag's practiced on fitness and smart home products. Teaching yoga for nigh 10 years has helped her in evaluating a range of continued wellness products including fitness trackers, eye rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, strength training machines, treadmills, and more. Angela besides tests smart home devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, merely to proper name a few.