At the end of 2024, Facebook introduced a new content monetisation programme. It is a unified approach, aiming to streamline how performance-based revenue is generated. Essentially, it rolls potential payments from various sources like in-stream ads and engagement-driven bonuses into a single pot.

It has also produced large windfalls for many publishers. Around 700 Facebook Pages and counting use Echobox to monetise their content through the programme, generating a total of US$51 million for an average earning of US$75,000 per page.

Given these figures, we decided to collect more data on which types of shares are generating the most revenue. Here’s what we found.

Insights

The core question for any news organisation is, “Where should we focus our effort?” Given the performance-based nature of this programme, understanding which content formats Meta’s algorithm is rewarding with the highest potential payouts is paramount to developing a successful strategy.

We took a deep dive into the performance metrics of thousands of posts from publishers enrolled in the monetisation programme. The results were quite revealing, particularly against the backdrop of Meta’s highly publicised push for video, especially short-form video.

Image-link posts

One might assume that, for a programme rewarding platform activity, video would be the clear financial leader. However, our data indicated image-link posts were the format driving the highest average earnings per share.

An image-link post typically involves uploading a compelling, full-size article image directly to Facebook (not using the standard link-share preview card) and then placing the article URL in the post caption or, often, in the first comment.

This strategy, which historically gained traction as a way to circumvent the algorithm’s de-prioritisation of external links, is now proving to be a highly monetisable format.

Video performance

Standard, long-form video posts followed closely behind, confirming that high-quality, long-form video content remains a vital component of any earning strategy.

However, the analysis revealed a sharp contrast with short-form video. Reels appeared to deliver minimal average earnings for news publishers under this particular system.

This is a crucial distinction. While Reels are prioritised for reach and follower growth, they do not appear to be delivering the same direct financial compensation as their longer-form or image-based counterparts. This suggests the monetisation mechanics applied to Reels are not generating commensurate value for news content at this stage.

A global phenomenon

The final part of our analysis looked at which markets were most successful in terms of Facebook monetisation to understand whether earnings were circumscribed within specific geographical territories.

Our findings indicate that, far from seeing a bias towards European and North American markets, revenues from Facebook are distributed over a wide geographic area.

Among the Echobox customers who were the highest earners from Facebook content monetisation, we saw publishers from New Zealand, Poland, Hong Kong, and Singapore as well as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Mexico to name but a few.

All in all, Facebook’s monetisation programme appears to be paying out substantial sums to publishers all over the world.

A strategic time to act

Meta’s content monetisation programme is a significant strategic move, moving the needle away from negotiated, fixed deals to a pure performance model.

The big question, of course, is how long this will last. Meta’s platform priorities have a history of volatility.

But, for now, this programme offers a clear, demonstrable opportunity for news publishers to add a new layer of platform revenue driven by the quality and engagement of their everyday work.

The advice is simple: News publishers should engage strategically and make the most of this financial window while it’s wide open.

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