Facebook reportedly wants to start an initiative with major publishers that will have them distribute content through the social network and in return keep all the revenue from associated advertisements.
Sources familiar with the matter said the initiative will come in the form of a feature called Instant Articles, which would include news stories and videos from publishers such as BuzzFeed, The New York Times and National Geographic, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The goal for Instant Articles is to speed up the process of clicking on publishers' links to content on Facebook, especially on mobile devices, which currently takes around eight seconds.
Some publishers depend on links on Facebook for over half of their online traffic, CNET reported. News links on Facebook currently take users to the news publication's website, which takes up more time while the site loads, taking users away from Facebook in the process. Instant Articles would help stories and videos load much quicker while making sure users stay engaged on the company's site.
Publishers would benefit from the deal because they would keep all of the revenue from the ads they sold. However, if Facebook sold the ads, it would keep about 30 percent of the revenue.
Some publishers are worried about the proposal, expressing concern about keeping control over the users experience and access to information on readers, WSJ reported.
"It's not just about the bottom line," an executive of one publisher that has had talks with Facebook said. "Publishers will still want to defend other aspects of the business."
Details that remain unclear about the proposal include how much control publishers will have on the ads they sell on Facebook, as well as the format these ads would take.
Instant Articles could become available as early as this month, and the sources said the deals between Facebook and its launch partners are still being finalized.
