News UK’s commercial division the Bridge is to launch a new social content tool to combat the recent algorithm changes to Facebook’s News Feed.
The Social Amp tool will allow brands to design campaigns and targeted posts across News UK titles including the Sun and the Times, where they will be essentially shown as digital display advertising.
The move is designed to get around recent changes made by Facebook last month to its News Feed that will result in fewer posts from the media as part of a new focus to prioritise “meaningful social interactions.”
Content on Social Amp will appear on webpages across the News UK portfolio, appearing on the web page as it would on the brands own social channels with a “sponsored post” tag above it.
For example, a brand could promote a Facebook post through a placement on a News UK site to drive traffic to their social media channels.
Bridge digital director Ben Walmsley said: “For too long brands have been watching their organic social reach decline, diminishing the strong audience bases they have fought hard to build.
“Our ethos at the Bridge has always been to listen closely to our advertisers’ needs and meet them: Social Amp is a much-needed solution for brands who want to amplify and endorse their social feeds in quality environments, with strong reader affinity.”
Social Amp has been trialed “successfully”, according to a spokesperson, and the first partner will be announced in the coming days.
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