Facebook’s (META +0.90%) exit from the news business after years of PR disasters has led to a decline in many major news sites.
What happened? When Facebook became Meta, it also got out of the news distribution business. Most of the publications that depended on Facebook for referral traffic have declined significantly since then.
- A review of 1,930 news and media websites conducted by Chartbeat showed that Facebook accounts for 33% of overall social traffic (measured by page views), down from 50% a year earlier.
- The publication Mother Jones said that traffic has declined exponentially since she took over in 2017. Notably, referrals from Facebook have experienced a significant decline of 99% since reaching its peak.
Publications have had to adapt, finding other ways to draw in traffic. And if they don’t, they have to make tough decisions…
In 2023, Vice Media (which was valued at $5.7 billion in 2017) declared bankruptcy. Just last week, Sports Illustrated was hit with mass layoffs.
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