Facebook News Continues to Evolve as Its Second Anniversary Approaches

As the two-year anniversary of the debut of the stand-alone Facebook News tab approaches, the social network shared some updates on its progress and improvements to the product that being explored. Facebook News debuted in the U.S. Oct. 25, 2019, and it has since been rolled out in Australia, Germany and the U.K. The social network shared these numbers to illustrate how publishers in the Facebook News tab are seeing new audiences and increased referral traffic: Facebook News contributes more than 30% of overall Facebook news link referral traffic for German, U.K. and U.S. publishers included in the tab.On average, over 88% of referral traffic from Facebook News in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. comes from non-followers.On average, more than 63% of article shares from Facebook News in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. come from non-followers.The proportion of referral traffic from non-followers for publishers included in Facebook News in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. is 1.8 times that of News Feed. Facebook also discussed ways it has been testing or rolling out to make it easier for readers to digest the news and make it more approachable. The social network has experimented with deeper dives around major news events, such as the pandemic, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the Emmy Awards. Local alerts and video integration have been added, and Facebook has begun to curate content from its Facebook Bulletin platform for independent writers. Other features being tested include cluster-based collections of at least five articles that leverage human curators evaluating trending signals on Facebook to create short-lived news collections targeted to users who are interested in them, as well as quizzes. The 20 most clicked articles on Facebook News thus far in 2021 are: The Daily Beast, Arrest Warrant Issued for ‘To Catch a Predator’ Host Chris HansenInsider, Will Smith Reveals That He and Jada Pinkett Smith Decided at One Point in Their Marriage That They Would No Longer Be Monogamous: 'Marriage for Us Can't Be a Prison'Delish, Celebrities Are Very Emotional After Reading Jennifer Garner's Family Instagram UpdatePeople, Rising TikTok Star Caitlyn Loane, Who Gained Popularity Sharing Her Life as a Young Farmer, Dead at 19Insider, Lady Gaga Says the Producer Who Raped Her Dropped Her Off 'Pregnant on a Corner' After Locking Her in a Studio for MonthsAtlanta Black Star, ‘Think This Is a Joke?’: Ohio Police Chief Resigns Immediately When Told He Had Minutes to Exit Building After Video Captured Him Leaving KKK Sign on Black Officer’s DeskThe Hollywood Gossip, Britney Spears Posts Nude Bathroom Selfie, Sparks Mental Health ConcernsInteresting Engineering, A Boeing 737 Just Crashed Off the Coast of HawaiiInsider, 6 Fully Vaccinated People Who Attended an Outdoor Wedding Caught the Delta Variant, But People With Pfizer and Moderna Shots Survived, Study SaysFox News, Missing Gabby Petito's Dad Linked to Laundrie Home Incident Report Evening Before Daughter Reported MissingNBC News, Facing Calls for His Removal, Trump Reverses Positions on Election Loss, Rioters and CovidE! Online, Two and a Half Men’s Angus T. Jones Is Unrecognizable in Barefoot Los Angeles SightingInsider, TikTok Doctor Explains Why Sneakers Filled With Human Feet Keep Washing Up on Beaches in the Pacific NorthwestNBC News, Biden, Senate Democrats Agree to Limit Eligibility for $1,400 ChecksCosmopolitan, Meghan Markle Has Changed Her Name on Lili's Birth CertificateCNN, New Details Emerge About Brian Laundrie's Behavior in the Days After Petito Went MissingE! Online, Dog the Bounty Hunter Marries Francie Frane 2 Years After Beth Chapman's DeathLaw & Crime, ‘The House Will Be Bloody When You Get Home’: Virginia Woman Allegedly Stabbed Daughter ‘At Least 50’ Times and Disemboweled Infant Son, Warned Fiancé About the MessNewsweek, Groom Dies at Wedding Altar in Front of Horrified BridePopCulture.com, 'Jeopardy!': Permanent Host Revealed Nearly 9 Months After Alex Trebek's Death

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Facebook News Continues to Evolve as Its Second Anniversary Approaches

The stand-alone tab debuted in the US Oct. 25, 2019

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