KM Media Group’s editorial director Ian Carter has told a report on the Digital Transition of Local News that Facebook users are the “least valuable readers” for news publishers.

“They stay on your site for ten seconds,” he said. “They don’t care which site they are actually visiting. Your bounce rate [single-page visitors] goes through the roof, and there’s no loyalty in a Facebook reader.”

He also said Facebook was “a whim”, with the US giant able to change the News Feed algorithm whenever it wants – “as it does all the time”.