Local News App Beats Facebook in Australian App Store – News from Facebook is a popular news source for many Australians, but it is no more accessible in Australia. So many of the people have gone to another source to keep themselves informed on the latest information.
Australians Search for Facebook News Alternative
Previous Friday, the news app of Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) ranked number one on the iOS download charts for free apps in Australia.
It happened two days after Facebook News was banned in Australia. According to App Annie at the time of writing, the ABC news app has since fallen to third. Facebook, meanwhile, was at fourth but has dropped down to ninth.
ABC is the country’s national news broadcaster, Financial Times’ Uma Patel made a Twitter thread suggesting that there may be another reason why the ABC app shot to the top. She claims that following Facebook’s news ban, ABC used advertisements to push its readers to the app.
Perhaps this move was a necessary attempt at damage control. A NiemanLab article says that for some news outlets in Australia, the Facebook News ban sent traffic down by a staggering 93 percent the next day.
How Will This Affect the News Industry in Australia?
It is not up to a week yet, and already the Facebook News ban is taking another dimension on the Australian news industry.
can this sudden change in landscape help local Australian media outlets gather more attention, or will the masses simply get their news from a different social media platform? We shall keep you updated as events continue to unfold
