Last week Facebook officially announced new ways for publishers to monetize Instant Articles, the social media network’s DIY publishing platform designed for publishers to create fast-loading, interactive, immersive articles on Facebook. Instant Articles, open to all publishers for the last six months, launched 18 months ago. Facebook initially made the announcement in a Q&A with Poynter last month.

Since the rollout of Instant Articles, the product has gotten mixed reviews. Last month, for example, Digiday reported results from U.K. publishers. According to Digiday, all major U.K. publishers use Instant Articles, at least to a degree. Trinity Mirror is a fan of Instant Articles, reports Digiday. The Independent, on the other hand, said its traffic has eroded over the last few months.

In a separate article by Digiday published earlier this month, Digiday reports that approximately 100 publishers are using Instant Articles, but some notable publishers like Bloomberg Media aren’t utilizing the tool. Other publishers who have not jumped on the Instant Articles’ bandwagon include the Wall Street Journal, ESPN, CBS News and the Financial Times. One reason, says Digiday, is that publishers want to get readers to their own websites where they can pitch subscription sales.

The new Instant Articles’ changes address some of those needs, and may entice media outlets who only publish some of their content via Instant Articles, and perhaps draw in those who have held out in participating in Instant Articles altogether.

“Creating value for publishers using Instant Articles is extremely important to us, and it is critical to our mission of delivering the best mobile reading experience for people on Facebook,” said Harshit Agarwal, product manager, in an Oct. 12 blog post. “Publishers tell us they measure value from Instant Articles in terms of traffic growth and per-page monetization, so we have focused our investments in this product along those two dimensions.”

The changes include:

• For publishers with direct sold adverting businesses, Instant Articles now supports larger, more flexible ad units up to an aspect ratio of 2:3. Publishers can bring more of their direct sold campaigns to the platform, including custom premium ad formats. The goal is to expand available ad inventory and improve yields for publishers while still offering an optimal experience for readers. Facebook offers these ad size examples:

• Publishers who monetize Instant Articles with Audience Network will be able to utilize video and carousel ad formats with no additional implementation. According to Facebook, these “high-value” ad formats offer readers a more engaging experience, which will drive performance for advertisers and, thus, revenue for publishers.
• Facebook will provide support for larger and custom ad sizes to extend premium campaigns from mobile websites onto Instant Articles. Facebook partnered with Vox Media to incorporate high performing ad units and capabilities within Instant Articles.
• Facebook has increased the number of ads allowed per article, and improved the auto-placement feature to make it easier for publishers to place ads in their articles.
• Facebook is testing a native call-to-action feature to make it easier for publishers to more deeply engage with readers.

With the implementation of these new abilities, Facebook provides three primary ways for publishers to monetize articles they publishing using the Instant Articles platform:

1. Direct Sold Campaigns: Publishers can extend the reach of their direct sold campaigns to Instant Articles, allowing them to keep 100 percent of the revenue. This includes support for video, animated ads and a broader range of ad units, including custom ad sizes
2. Audience Network: Publishers can tap into demand from 4 million advertising already on Facebook, allowing them to leverage high-value native ad formats and people-based targeting through new formats like video and carousel ads. Facebook has a revenue split with publishers who take advantage of this option.
3. Branded Content: Publishers can extend their branded content to Instant Articles, getting additional exposure to satisfy the needs of advertisers and sponsors.

“Our goal from the beginning has been to provide the best possible experience for people reading news on Facebook, and to drive value for publishers through increased traffic and flexible monetization. Today’s announcement is a direct result of collaboration with our partners and we’ll continue to evolve the program based on publisher feedback,” said Agarwal.

Insider Take:

There are pros and cons for using Facebook’s Instant Articles as a supplemental publishing platform. Pros include additional exposure, improved discoverability and additional revenue-generating opportunities. Cons include loss of reader date, inability to pitch subscription sales, lost monetization opportunities, potential decrease in website traffic, and loss of control.

An argument can be made for both sides. Ultimately, it is up to each publisher to decide how much money and effort – if any – to put into publishing simultaneously on Instant Articles and how that impacts ROI and revenue.