By Kingsley By Bron Maher • 23 May 2025
Facebook is being a little nicer to publishers again, but that doesn’t mean there’s any real improved revenue prospects there—yet.
At the start of the year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s platforms would bring back “civic content” after years of making political and news content less visible. A NewsWhip report looking at 50 major publishers’ social performance in Q1 found a 200% increase in engagement (likes, comments, and shares) compared to the same period last year.
However, referral traffic data tells a different story.
Ad Fontes Media, the Boston Globe, and Dow Jones all reported seeing no change or a decrease in Facebook traffic year-on-year. Similarweb data provided to Press Gazette found a muted 5.8% median increase in traffic across 68 major titles. A social media staffer at a smaller British publication told AMO they saw no rise in traffic or engagement.
It’s possible that engagement is rising while traffic is not. Meta appears to prefer keeping users on its platforms—where it can serve ads—rather than directing them to external sites. The NewsWhip report noted that top-performing posts were mostly photos and lighthearted viral content, which often don’t include links to full stories.
A senior social staffer at a publisher that saw one of the highest engagement increases reported a significant rise in traffic since November, when referrals were at their lowest. However, year-on-year traffic remained flat. Their team attributed the gains to a new strategy of putting story links in the comments, rather than in the post itself.
Despite these tactics, the engagement boost is not yet translating into revenue. Facebook is beta testing a new simplified monetization model where photos, stories, and text posts may generate income based on engagement. Currently, revenue is limited to videos, shortform Reels, or for members of the exclusive “performance bonus” program.
Until the new model rolls out more widely, experts recommend publishers use Facebook to grow their audience—not as a primary revenue or traffic driver.
Sasha Berson of Grow Law Firm noted, “This is a good moment to test in-platform content like short videos or carousels and use the reach to build owned channels like newsletters.”
Miruna Dragomi of Planable added, “Facebook should be an amplifier, not a base. Leverage viral moments to guide users to your ecosystem—email lists, subscriptions, or your own platforms. Don’t rely on Meta for foundational growth.”