News articles on Facebook now include publisher logo
CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the update is part of larger effort to help news organizations boost subscriptions.
As in the offline world, you'll now see logos for news publications when their stories appear on Facebook.
Have you ever referenced a story you read on Facebook, not knowing the actual source of the news? You're not alone, and Facebook, recognizing the importance of promoting the source, this week started including publishers' logos next to stories on the site.
"We're going to keep experimenting with different ways to support the news industry and make sure reporters and publishers everywhere can keep doing their important work," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Wednesday post.
The addition of publisher logos, for now, is limited to trending and searched articles on the social network. It's part of the larger Facebook Journalism Project, which includes efforts announced last month to help publishers sell subscriptions by creating a paywall.
"If people subscribe after seeing news stories on Facebook, the money will go directly publishers who work hard to uncover the truth, and Facebook won't take a cut," Zuckerberg said Wednesday. "We plan to start with a small group of US. and European publishers later this year and we'll listen to their feedback."
As readers have increasingly gone online for their news, newspapers have suffered declining subscriber numbers and lower advertising revenue, resulting in a dramatic industry contraction. Newspaper publishers and the Associated Press have long blamed Google and other news aggregation sites for their woes, leading to threats that they will delist their content and begin charging online readers.