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Medium Supports Facebook Instant Articles, Google AMP

Shortly after announcing that it has signed a number of big digital publishers for its new publishing platform, Medium revealed that it is also integrating support for Facebook’s Instant Articles and Google AMP, making it even easier for publishers on Medium to take advantage of the faster, wider distribution offered by these huge tech platforms.

According to the Medium blog post announcing the Instant Articles and AMP support –one of a group of features offered in its new Medium for Publishers package – the site hopes to woo publishers with greater convenience: “We want Medium to be your write-once, publish-anywhere destination.” Through the integration, publishers can host content on Facebook rather than their own Web sites, reducing load times for mobile Web users.

Medium also unveiled a number of other features with Medium for Publishers, including new branding tools that will allow publications to customize color, layout, and navigation for their online presence. The platform is also making it easier to migrate existing blogs and Web sites, including archival content hosted elsewhere, preserving time stamps and links.

On the revenue front, Medium also introduced two new ways for publishing clients to monetize their content. The first, Promoted Stories, will allow publishers and bloggers to host stories from brand partners, in effect introducing native ads to Medium. At launch Medium has already signed up brand partners including Bose, SoFi, Nest, Intel, and Volpi Foods. The second new option, Membership, allows publications to sell monthly memberships to readers for access to members-only content.

Earlier this week Medium announced that a number of big online publications were moving to its platform, including The Awl, Pacific Standard, The Bold Italic, The Black List and Femsplain. Time Inc.’s Money, Fortune and Atlantic Media’s National Journal will start providing original content for Medium as well. Last month, sportswriter Bill Simmons announced that he is joining forces with Medium to launch his new online sports publication, The Ringer.

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