Facebook Tests New Link-Sharing Limits for Pro Accounts

Meta is restricting how many links users can publish on Facebook in a new experiment, unless they have a paid Meta Verified subscription.

Many users have noticed Meta’s test, which affects link posting, within the past week. According to social media analyst Matt Navarra, test participants are only allowed to share two links unless they purchase a Meta Verified subscription, which starts at $14.99 a month.

Users are still able to publish comments, affiliate links, and links to Meta platform content on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, according to the screenshot Navarra shared.

The test affects users of Facebook Pages and professional mode, according to the business, which confirmed it to the members of the press.

In professional mode, users can turn their personal profile into a creator profile and make their material discoverable to more people.

A Meta representative told the members of the press that, this is a limited test to determine whether the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links adds additional value for Meta Verified subscribers.

This would have a direct effect on brands and creators who use links from their blogs or other platforms to reach more people.

This test is one such trial to improve that paid package, according to the business, which is attempting to figure out possible ways to provide Meta Verified subscribers additional value. Publishers are now excluded from this test, the company added.

Meta further stated that the limit has no effect on users’ ability to publish links in comments.

Statistics shows that more than 98% of the feed’s views in the United States originate from posts without links, according to Meta’s Q3 transparency report. It is also not clear if the corporation tested with link sharing restrictions as a result of this signal. The majority of the 1.9% of posts with links, according to the business, originated from a page they followed. There weren’t many friends or groups sharing linked posts.

The top URLs among the links that were uploaded were YouTube, TikTok, and GoFundMe, according to the same research. The new link posting limit test that would require businesses and creators to either stop publishing completely if they didn’t want to pay for a subscription or post content from other Meta platforms if they had crossed their limit.

There is an ongoing discussion concerning the link-based web which has developed as AI has taken over the internet generally. AI search and summarisation have had a negative effect on the publishing sector and hence social networks like X have experimented with demoting linked posts in recent years in an effort to entice users to create content directly on the platforms.

Facebook Pages and personal profiles using “Professional Mode” are the main targets of the test. Presently, this experiment does not include official publisher accounts or regular personal profiles.

Also, there is a monthly cap of two organic feed posts with external links for unverified accounts in the test group.

And the subscription requirements for users, must sign up for Meta Verified first and this is at cost of $14.99 a month, in order to get around this cap.

The things that are not restricted are links in comments, Internal Meta Links and affiliate Links.

According to Meta, the purpose and impact is aim to assess whether its allows more link sharing delivers added value for paid subscribers. The change also reflects a wider platform strategy to limit outbound traffic, with internal data showing that more than 98% of U.S. feed views come from posts that don’t include links.