Facebook on Tuesday unveiled a new feature called Instant Articles that offers faster load times for news stories and interactive features on users’ mobile devices.
This tool was introduced to help reduce the frustrating experience users go through when waiting for an article to load after clicking on the link.
Facebook said Instant Articles promises to load articles 10 times faster than most articles on the web. The programme will also include a suite of features such as interactive maps, image zoom, autoplay videos and audio captions. Among the other sites partnering on the feature are The New York Times, National Geographic, BuzzFeed, NBC, The Atlantic, The Guardian and BBC News.
In a statement by Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox, he said this will enable publishers provide a better experience for their readers.
“Instant articles let them deliver fast, interactive articles while maintaining control of their content and business models.”
Facebook’s plan allows publishers to sell ads with their content and keep the money. The feature will also allow publishers to track user data and traffic through comScore and other analytics tools.
Facebook said it is launch the feature on its iPhone app but made no mention when it would be available on its Android version.
