Facebook is launching a new analytics tool in partnership with Nielsen

By Lukas I. Alpert 

In its continuing efforts to sell publishers on the benefits of Instant Articles, Facebook is launching a new analytics tool in partnership with Nielsen that will give news outlets more data on how their stories perform on the platform.

Facebook has long argued that stories posted through its fast-loading Instant Articles program have led to greater engagement from readers, but some publishers have remained unconvinced given the lack of specific enough data.

In the past, Facebook has made available performance data aggregated across the 10,000 or so publishers who have tried the program. The new tool will now allow publishers to see how their specific news organizations' stories perform on Instant Articles collectively, enabling them to compare against those posted using traditional links sending readers to a mobile web page.

"This insight provides an important signal publishers can use to make informed business decisions about how they share content on Facebook," said Facebook product manager, Mona Sarantakos.

Write to Lukas I. Alpert at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 19, 2017 15:15 ET (19:15 GMT)

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