Meta tests a “Pay to Link” option on Facebook

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Meta is quietly testing a new idea on Facebook: what if links were rationed?

Over the past week, some users have noticed that they can no longer post links as they used to. 

Social media strategist Matt Navarra was among the first to flag the experiment, sharing screenshots that show users limited to just two link posts, unless they subscribe to Meta Verified. 

That blue-check-adjacent subscription starts at $14.99 a month, which now apparently also buys you the right to post URLs like it’s 2016.

Meta confirmed the test to TechCrunch, explaining that the limit applies to people using professional mode and Facebook Pages. 

Professional mode turns a personal profile into a creator-style account, meaning this experiment lands squarely on creators, brands, and anyone trying to drive traffic somewhere that is not Facebook.

According to Meta, this is all part of figuring out how to “add more value” to Meta Verified. 

A spokesperson said the test is meant to understand whether letting subscribers post more links is actually worth paying for. 

Publishers, at least for now, are not included, possibly because that would trigger an even louder backlash.

There are some loopholes. Users can still post affiliate links, drop links in comments, or share links that stay safely within Meta’s ecosystem, like posts from Instagram or WhatsApp. 

External links? That’s where the meter starts running.

Meta’s own transparency report may explain the thinking. In Q3, the company said more than 98% of feed views in the US came from posts without links. 

Of the tiny slice that did include links, most traffic went to familiar names like YouTube, TikTok, and GoFundMe, usually from Pages people already follow.

In other words, links aren’t doing much for Meta, but they matter a lot to creators. 

With AI summaries eating into web traffic and platforms like X already experimenting with link demotion, Meta’s test feels less like a surprise and more like the next chapter in the slow un-linking of the web.

If the internet were built on links, Meta may be testing what happens when you put them behind a paywall.