Last week, Facebook announced it was rolling out an update to the News Feed algorithm, aimed at prioritizing content from friends and family and limiting the reach of content from publishers and brands.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that based on feedback from the Facebook community, “posts from businesses, brands and media — is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other.”
“As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard — it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.”
In recent years, publishers have increasingly relied on Facebook’s News Feed to drive traffic to their websites. According to Digiday, “About 90% of growth seen in ad spending is concentrated into Google and Facebook, leaving publishers to fight over the remaining 10% of the spend.”
In response to the News Feed algorithm update, it is more important than ever for publishers to diversify their traffic and monetization sources.
Digiday reported that Facebook told some reporters that content from reputable publishers would still surface. The problem is, how can one platform determine which publishers are deemed reputable? When Facebook hired people to adjust the trending recommendations on the News Feed after the presidential election, it became apparent that all people are inherently biased.
Right now, we are in a social web, which tends to be more closed and more consolidated because of the News Feed concept. As a generation, we are more connected than ever, and at the same time, less connected than ever.
People have been consuming all their news from social media and the concept of the News Feed. The more powerful and consolidated that gets, the worse off we are as a society. If one company can power all the ideas, we destroy the ability to have open ideas and an open platform. If you look at the past 20 years of the explosion of culture, ideas, change and innovation, it’s all at risk in a closed platform.
This is where RevContent comes in.
In a world where media outlets and publications are limited by the rules of the giant tech duopoly i.e. Facebook and Google, RevContent believes an open web is the foundation for free speech.
Our goal is to empower an open web and exchange of ideas by providing platforms for people to discover content that is interesting and relevant to their everyday lives.
It is time for publishers to branch out from Facebook and to grow their audiences. And we can help. With RevContent, publishers and advertisers can engage and grow audiences, develop loyal customers and drive revenue by providing users with content that is personalized to their likes and interests. Through our network, advertisers and publishers have the opportunity to reach 97% of the US population. To learn more, visit our website.
We have always believed in a free and open web. We believe in the power of the written word and giving people a voice. Simply put, this is why we exist.
Everything ties back to a better user experience. Building a seamless experience for readers has always been a core value that makes us who we are as a company. We are excited to continue powering an open web and a powerful user experience.