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Facebook tests Promoted Posts in US to raise the odds of friends seeing your important moments

Facebook tests Promoted Posts in US to raise the odds of friends seeing your important moments

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facebook promoted posts
facebook promoted posts

Facebook today began testing Promoted Posts in the US, which let users pay to make it more likely that friends see a photo or story they've posted. The going price for Promoted Posts hasn't yet been established, but a spokesperson told The Verge that the initial cost per post should be around $7.00. Along with more visibility in friends' feeds, Promoted Posts come with a tool that lets you see how many people have seen your post.

In May, the company rolled out Promoted Posts for Pages (like Coca-Cola), as well as began tests for general users in New Zealand. Rolling out a feature to a small group of people first is a common tactic for Facebook — especially when it comes to testing controversial features like Promoted Posts. If you're a member of the group Facebook has chosen to begin testing the feature, a new "Promote" button will show up next to "Like" and "Comment" underneath soomething you've posted. The company did not specify how long a Promoted Post will stick around in your friend's News Feeds, but indicated that once somebody has seen the post, it'll be treated like a regular post and fade away.

Promoted Posts are not intended for everyday use, a spokesperson said, but are for promoting events like birthdays and weddings. They could also be used for times when you are having a fundraiser, or lost a pet, or are making some other kind of public service announcement you want your friends to see. The new feature reminds us a lot of Tumblr's Pinned Posts, as well as Twitter's Promoted Tweets initiative — both new revenue streams for each respective company. In the wake of its IPO, Facebook has frequently experimented with new ways to make money — most recently Gifts, which let users buy each other chocolates and teddy bears for special occasions, and Facebook gets a cut.