Aussie news consumption yet to recover from Facebook ban
Traffic across news websites is yet to bounce back following Facebook’s short-lived ban on publishers and people sharing local and international news, despite the platform having reinstated news content on its site and app.
Using its Digital Content Rankings methodology, data provider Nielsen found that in the week since Facebook switched news content back on in the Facebook app, consumption of the Current Events & Global News category by Australians is yet to fully bounce back.
Specifically, total sessions for the ‘Current Events & Global News’ has risen by 13% since news was reinstated, but that remains 7% lower than prior to Facebook turning off news on its app.
Nielsen DCR Total Time Spent CEGN Category [click to enlarge]
Nielsen also reports that the average total time spent daily on sites in the Current Events & Global News category was 79 million minutes, a figure that dropped to 65 million.
Since news content has been reinstated, the average total time spent has risen to 67 million, still a significant drop on pre-ban levels for the category.
Facebook’s backflip followed the Australian Government agreeing to make several amendments to the news media bargaining code, addressing concerns Facebook held.
Following that, several digital publishers announced deals with Facebook to be paid for their news content, with commercial agreements still to be finalised for some.
Seven and independent news companies Private Media, Schwartz Media, Solstice Media have negotiated deals, while Nine is understood to be in negotiations.
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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