Facebook is testing a new ad format aimed at individuals and small groups, offering promoted posts for just $2.
By paying a small fee users can ensure that information they post on the social network is more visible to friends, family and colleagues.
The new ‘highlight a post web page’ lets users pay to promote their posts for as little as $2, payable by Paypal or credit card.
The ‘promote a post’ system has so far only been tested in New Zealand .
Facebook said the goal was to see if users were interested in paying to flag up their information.
Different methods of highlighting posts were being tested, including 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.
Facebook spokeswoman Mia Garlick confirmed to Stuff NZ that the idea was a new “feature” it was testing.
“We’re constantly testing new features across the site. This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends,” she said.
As more users have signed up to the popular social network, Facebook has struggled to make posts of the greatest interest stand out. Its algorithms currently promote updates that attract comments or ‘likes’.
Facebook is set to go public on the stockmarket with an initial valuation of $96billion, and is likely to look over time at a range of other ways in which it can earn money.
Despite rapid growth in revenue, recent growth in Facebook profits has slowed. The firm highlighted its own need to maximise revenue from mobile phones, although this new services appears to initially be aimed at users of the desktop site.
