Facebook working on its News tab, to offer millions to publishers

Facebook offers news organisations up to $ 3 million a year by permission to present their content in an upcoming News section on the platform.

This section will present headlines and excerpts from articles generated by news organisations. These organisations will have the option of hosting content directly on Facebook or providing links that take users to their respective sites.

As per The Wall Street Journal, Facebook has contacted organisations such as The Washington Post, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. The News tab is expected to launch later this year.

Facebook's previous attempts to bring news content to the platform took the form of instant articles, which, like the Google Amp pages, appeared in a lightweight and mobile-friendly format hosted by Facebook. Facebook inserted ads on these pages and shared revenue with publishers. Facebook and Google have been criticised in the past for not sharing enough advertising revenue with publishers.

Given what happened with Facebook's live video program before, publishers are understandably suspicious of Facebook's proposal. Facebook had convinced publishers that the video was the way to go, that there would be tremendous traction on the platform and that the revenue would be good. Many publishers accepted the view of Facebook and invested heavily in the production of videos. When the platform did not take off, which was then followed by accusations that Facebook was artificially increasing the numbers to make the platform appear successful, many publishers lost money, which also resulted in the loss of jobs for journalists.