A few months ago we covered how Facebook officially said that there was no plans to implement a premium user group to boost their revenue. Today however a few friends of ours were greeting with an option to pay to promote or highlight their posts to even more people.
A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to the BBC the offer (to pay to promote posts) was genuine.
“We’re constantly testing new features across the site,” said the spokesperson. “This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends.”
Different methods of highlighting posts were being tested, said the spokesperson. These would see a range of charges being levied to make posts more visible. Comments on the tests suggest the highest price being charged was £1.25 ($2) while others cost 25p or 50p.
Payments could be made via credit card or PayPal.
The spokesperson said some of the methods it was trying out would incur a charge but others would highlight a post for free. The spokesperson would not be drawn on when the test would end or if it would be tried in other territories.
(Source)
Is Facebook going back on their promises to keep Facebook free for all to use or are they just targeting this new functionality at users who share for commercial/professional/business use? Let us know what you think below with a comment.