Instant Articles have been around for over a year now, and Facebook is doing its best to make sure that publishers get the most benefits from them. So, following Facebook’s Marketing API v2.8 update, the company is adding new options for monetisation on Instant Articles.
In a recent FB Media post, Product Manager, Harshit Agarwal explained that “creating value for publishers using Instant Articles is extremely important to” the company, and
[quote]critical to [its] mission of delivering the best mobile reading experience for people on Facebook.[/quote]
Instant Articles have also become important to publishers though, in that they generate traffic and offer monetisation options not available otherwise. And so Facebook has been hard at work focusing upgrades in those areas. This week, the company announced new formats for direct sold campaigns and Audience Network, adding more value for Publishers.
New Formats To Increase Yield
Instant Articles now support larger and more flexible ad units, with an aspect ratio up to 2:3. This applies for publishers with direct sold advertising businesses. This means that,
[quote]Publishers can bring more of their direct sold campaigns to Instant Articles, including custom, premium formats.[/quote]
This is of course expected to help maintain the user experience for readers, but at the same time expand available ads inventory. Hopefully it will also lead to higher yield for publishers. Below are some of the new formats. In addition to these, video and carousel ads will be rolled out across iOS and Android, for Instant Articles. This is great news for publishers who use Instant Articles for monetisation.
Listening To Publishers To Help Them Gain Value
Publishers have already started to use these changes to their advantage. For example, Vox Media (Vox.com, The Verge) will be bringing its Athena ad unit to Instant Articles, to extend its premium campaigns from their mobile websites. Of course, Vox Media is one of the publishers that worked directly with Facebook “to incorporate these high performing ad units and capabilities in Instant Articles.” Listening to publishers and helping them gain value, is something Facebook plans to continue.
A Recap Of What Has Changed:
- Direct sold campaigns: Publishers can now seamlessly extend direct sold campaigns into Instant Articles using their existing ad server implementation, and keep 100% of the revenue. Facebook has introduced support for video and animated ads, and a broader range of ad sizes – including custom units.
- Audience Network: Publishers can tap into demand from 4 million advertisers on Facebook, leveraging high-value native ad formats and people-based targeting. Facebook has added new formats and objectives (like video and carousel ads today) to drive more value.
- Branded Content: Publishers can extend their branded content business to Instant Articles. Facebook has built support for branded content to enable publishers to meet brand guidelines and sponsorship obligations.
Along with the above, Facebook has been testing “a native call-to-action in Instant Articles” which, along with a host of different policy changes around Instant Articles, will drive more value for advertisers and publishers.
Publishers who use direct sold ads can click here to find out more about the update. Those who are interested in joining the Instant Articles program, can find out more here.
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