Facebook In Talks Over Hosting News Sites' Content

[engine]

If this happens, Facebook really has become king of the hill. Are publishers concerned they will lose out of they are not involved? Or are they interested in the revenue sharing that may be on the table?

Do users really want to stay on Facebook all the time for all their content sharing, news, and information? I see many that inhabit Facebook constantly, so perhaps it's true.

The data from this could make Facebook's already huge repository even larger, and more valuable. Advertisers are likely to want to get a slice of that targeting.

In recent months, Facebook has been quietly holding talks with at least half a dozen media companies about hosting their content inside Facebook rather than making users tap a link to go to an external site.

Such a plan would represent a leap of faith for news organizations accustomed to keeping their readers within their own ecosystems, as well as accumulating valuable data on them. Facebook In Talks Over Hosting News Sites' Content [nytimes.com]

Facebook intends to begin testing the new format in the next several months, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

[nomis5]

This proposition and other recent ones give me a definite feeling that the map of the internet is soon about to change very dramatically. The day of the standard search engine is quickly coming to an end. And for those who say, this arrived some time ago, it didn't in reality. But it's there on the horizon now, as sure as eggs are eggs.

Often many "wise men" have written in this forum that diversification is the key to success. That was always wrong for the majority, given the diversification alternatives offered by those giving the advice.

The moment is almost here, forget diversification, change your thinking completely. Appreciate what is happening, leave the current road altogether and take another completely different one.

In three years time it will be fascinating to see those who still frequent this forum and those who have been
wiped out.

[JAB Creations]

A small percent of blind enthusiasts will adopt it, another small percentage will take interest and everyone else will if they even hear about it will go on with life as usual. Even if it did gain traction I think locking out search engines would be foolhardy, do you really want to limit the potential audience to a subset of a medium (Facebook) of the subset of a medium (web) of a subset of a medium (internet) of a subset of a medium (electronics), etc?

John

[RedBar]

Joe Public has so many different options these days for generalised stuff that, for the vast majority of sites they'll have no other option but to go with their own flow, since JP will always take the easiest route and the one that suits their and their friends/colleagues/business choices.

It's not about focussing on subsets, niche specialist sites will continue because we all need those at some point, well, most of us do, but trying to compete head-on with the general, massed-laziness of the many, will leave some very frustrated and a lot less wealthy.

[EditorialGuy]

Facebook may want to become the new AOL, but I'm skeptical.

[bwnbwn]

This may work but I have some serious doubts. Why would I want to lose my traffic, my advertising, and trust a 3rd party to control my revenue. There will have to be a huge benefit to me to even consider this.
I work with a news site and will ask them this question. Nothing like the NY Times but still a news organization.

[engine]

I suspect the reason is getting to the facebook audience. There's over a billion people on there, and the promotion can be targeted to a wide audience.

[Selen]

It may be as worthwhile (and unreasonable) as promoting your business Facebook page instead of your own website. Many have tried, very few succeeded, the rest abandoned it.

[weeks]

This is a quiet comment, not a rant, about Facebook's recent announcements. This plan, hosting content and the other, becoming a huge ISP.
Source: [wired.com...]
Both seem laughable to me, but then I've been laughing at FB for years now and they have proven me wrong and the aphorism, "There's a sucker born every minute" as correct.
Facebook wants to be the web to millions of people. Totally and completely. If you are not basic in your business (that is, if you do not make the widgets, write and edit the news, etc.) FB aims to put you out of business on the web. And the web is the world now, so out of business. Goodbye retailers. Nothing personal, it's just business.
Google's founders saw this coming, as many others. Thus, "Do no evil" from big G... Yes, that's laughable, too.
Lots of laughs these days.
Why am I not happy?

[graeme_p]

I think the media companies involved are going to find out the hard way that there are much worse things for their businesses than Google News (that they have been whining about). Weeks is absolutely right, FB wants to be the web.