How Facebook's Newsfeed changes are affecting European publishers

Back in January, Facebook made an announcement that shocked the publishing world: It was tweaking its Newsfeed algorithm so there would be less emphasis on Facebook pages and more focus on what your friends were sharing. Reach for Facebook pages was expected to plummet, and publishers that had grown addicted to Facebook's free referral traffic girded themselves for an all-out decimation of their businesses. But while there have been some clear victims of the algorithm change, the actual data for who's been hurt by it is noisy. Some publishers have seen a dip in Facebook engagement, while others have remained steady or even improved. That's the case for U.S. publishers, at least. But what about Europe? To find out, I interviewed Steve El-Sharawy, head of innovation at EzyInsights, a platform that tracks Facebook engagement for publishers. I asked El-Sharawy about how European publishers reacted to the announced algorithm changes and whether there are any clear winners and losers in the ordeal.