Facebook's Departure from News Industry Leads to Significant Decline in Referral Traffic for Publishers

18 Aug, 2023

Facebook's Departure from News Industry Leads to Significant Decline in Referral Traffic for Publishers

In recent months, the Meta-owned company has silently implemented changes that have resulted in a significant reduction of referral traffic to media organizations, as recounted by over half a dozen publishers. These alterations have had a notable impact on the daily visitor count for publishers, particularly those who focus on delivering hard news content.

According to an executive from a major media entity, who spoke anonymously to provide candid insight, prominent publishers have experienced a noticeable decline in their traffic. One publisher reported a drop of over 30% in year-over-year referral traffic, while another noted a decrease of approximately 40%. However, these figures were associated with publishers emphasizing lifestyle content. Those with a stronger emphasis on hard news content have witnessed even more substantial declines.

A publisher specializing in news content remarked, "Facebook practically obliterated everyone's traffic." Although the platform attempted to rectify the situation by adjusting its algorithm, the remedy has not been particularly effective. Referral traffic remains significantly lower compared to a year ago.

This issue is noteworthy due to the substantial traffic that Facebook used to direct to digital publishers. During Facebook's prime, news outlets benefited from a steady stream of clicks, often seeing articles go viral. However, this flow of traffic has dwindled considerably over recent years, impacting outlets that had built their business models around this source of traffic. The recent changes have further diminished the already lackluster levels of referral traffic.

When contacted, a spokesperson for Meta declined to comment. The observed changes align with the company executives' public stance on news. After attempting to foster relationships with publishers for years, it's now evident that Meta, under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg, is distancing itself from the news sector.

This departure occurs as global legislators are increasingly pushing for stricter regulations on major tech firms like Meta, urging them to compensate publishers for the content shared on their platforms. In response, Facebook has threatened to remove news content altogether from countries that enact such laws. This stance was put into action in Canada, resulting in significant backlash.

Meta has consistently argued that publishers rely more on Facebook than the other way around. The company stated in a March post that news content constitutes less than 3% of the content shown in users' Facebook Feeds. News also poses challenges for Meta, as it often involves misinformation and disinformation, causing complications for the company. Meta's assessment is that dealing with these issues, which have led to congressional hearings on allegations of "censorship," outweighs the potential benefits.

Adam Mosseri, an executive overseeing Instagram at Meta, articulated a similar sentiment, emphasizing that the company's new real-time text-based app, Threads, will not encourage news and politics on the platform. He indicated that the engagement and revenue generated from such content are not worth the associated risks.

Publishers suspect that Meta's reluctance to direct users away from its platform is linked to its ambition to dominate the advertising market. In Canada, publishers have requested antitrust regulators to examine whether Meta's actions are hampering their competitiveness in online advertising.

Additionally, Meta's competition with TikTok has prompted the company to allocate more space for short-form video content, further sidelining news content.

Despite the rationale behind these changes, Meta's shift away from news is yet another challenge for publishers who are already grappling with an uncertain and tumultuous landscape. As one publisher stated, "News publishers are contending with three simultaneous disruptions: waning interest in [Donald] Trump, the conclusion of the pandemic, and now the absence of Facebook.