Meta is cracking down on link sharing across Facebook, testing a feature that caps professional users and pages to just two external links per post unless they pay $14.99 monthly for Meta Verified. The move, spotted this week by social media strategists and confirmed to TechCrunch, impacts creators and brands trying to drive traffic back to their websites and blogs, forcing them to choose between paying for verified status or staying silent.
Meta just threw down a gauntlet for creators and brands relying on Facebook to push traffic to their own sites. The company is running a limited test that restricts how many external links professional accounts and pages can post, creating a new paywall around link sharing that's already drawing heat from the publishing world.
Here's what's happening: Users caught in the test can only post two external links to their feed unless they pay for Meta Verified, the company's subscription service starting at $14.99 monthly. Social media strategist Matt Navarra first spotted the restriction and flagged it publicly, prompting Meta to confirm the test to TechCrunch. The limitation applies specifically to users in professional mode and Facebook Pages - those creator-focused profiles designed to reach wider audiences.
But here's the catch. There are exceptions. Users can still drop affiliate links, post in comments, and share links to Meta's own ecosystem, including Instagram, WhatsApp, and other Facebook posts. Publishers, for now, are sitting this test out. Meta explained the rationale: "This is a limited test to understand whether the ability to publish an increased volume of posts with links adds additional value for Meta Verified subscribers."
What's really telling is the data behind this move. In its Q3 transparency report, Meta revealed that over 98% of US feed views come from posts without any links whatsoever. Of that tiny 1.9% that do include links, most traffic comes from pages users already follow. Links shared by friends and groups barely register. For Meta, that's a signal: links don't engage people the way native content does.
This isn't just about engagement metrics though. It's Meta's way of keeping creators and brands locked into its ecosystem. The company has been gradually discouraging external link-sharing for years, tweaking its algorithm to downrank linked posts and promote native video and image content. Now it's making that preference explicit. Want to share links? Pay up.
