Parse.ly: Facebook's new algorithm caused a 28% drop in publisher referral traffic

In January 2018, Facebook announced changes to its algorithm, expressing its intention to "prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people."

Data released by Parse.ly shows that these changes have reduced the visibility of brands and publishers’ pages in news feeds and have had a clear negative impact on publishers.

Publisher traffic on Facebook fell 28% in 2018 year-over-year.

Parse.ly's data is based on publishers using its technology and 1 billion users reading 8 million articles per month.

Parse.ly found that the new algorithm had the greatest impact on Arts & Entertainment, which saw a 71% decrease in recommended traffic. Music, as a separate category, also saw a significant drop in recommended traffic of 65% in 2018.

Art and fashion as a whole saw a 62% drop in referral traffic, and more specifically the fashion category saw a 60% drop.

It wasn’t just art and fashion that underperformed following the algorithm change. Traffic to home and parenting also dropped 61% in just one year.

On the other hand, politics, news, and social issues seem to be the least affected by Facebook's new algorithm. Although the number of recommendations for politics is declining, its 34% drop is not huge.

Showing that people are still finding information about what’s happening in the world on Facebook, news saw a smaller drop in traffic (-33%), followed by immigration, which fell 28%.

The two categories least affected by the change were reviews (-15%) and personal finance (-6%).

While Facebook recommendations have been declining, Google has filled the void. In 2018, more people found articles to read through Google than through Facebook.

199IT.com Originally compiled from: Parse.ly Do not reprint without authorization