Facebook's Instant Articles comes to Google's Android

Facebook has now launched its Instant Articles for Android phones, bringing it to a much wider audience, particularly in developing countries where internet connections are slow. This strategic move is timely,as the publishers on the feature have suffered due to the reduced ad revenue, hence Facebook is having to think of new ways to maintain interest.

You no longer need an iPhone to read Facebook's Instant Articles on the move. As of today, anyone in the world with an Android phone (and the Facebook app, of course) can read those quick-to-load stories. The experience will be very familiar if you've tried it before, but it promises to bring Instant Articles to a considerably wider audience -- particularly in developing countries where low-cost phones and slow internet access are still par for the course.

Facebook might need the boost. While legions of publishers (over 350) signed up for the feature after realizing that they were losing views through their slower-loading sites, they haven't been making a lot of money thanks to the reduced ad revenue. The social network is tweaking its formula to sustain interest, but it may need to count on sheer reader numbers to make up the difference in the short run.