Facebook’s faster article loading software used within the social network will soon be available to all publishers for the first time, expanding out from the original select few.
The Instant Articles feature – which loads news articles almost instantly, particularly on the mobile app – was Facebook’s attempt to keep news readers on its social network, as some disgruntled users were getting tired of slow loading times on some websites.
Aside from just loading faster, the feature also allowed for some other more aesthetically pleasing features, like high-res zooming, all with Facebook’s assurance that all of the analytics will be controlled by the original publisher.
When it was announced back in May 2015, Instant Articles was only being offered to some of the largest publishers around, including the BBC, The Guardian and National Geographic.
Opens 12 April
And while it may have only expanded to iOS users back in October, Facebook has now issued a statement saying that, as long as you’re a publisher, you can get yourself set up for Instant Articles.
“Our goal from the beginning was to open up Instant Articles to all publishers and we’re excited to be able to do that in a way that makes it fast and easy for all publishers to reach their audiences on Facebook,” said Facebook’s product manager, Josh Roberts.
Facebook also confirmed that publishers will be able to access Instant Articles after 12 April when the company’s F8 developer conference gets underway.