• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, December 10, 2015

Facebook is responding to publishers’ complaints about advertising restrictions on its Instant Articles platform by allowing them to sell more ads, lowering the minimum ratio from one ad for every 500 words to one ad for every 350 words, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.

The shift marks a substantial concession to publishing partners by Facebook, which previously insisted on a limited number of ads out of concern for user experience. Facebook also revealed that it will allow publishers to sell campaigns limited to the social network instead of tied together with inventory on their own properties -- giving them the option of positioning these Facebook-only campaigns as differentiated, premium products for marketers. Facebook had previously prohibited this because it wanted to avoid confusion among advertisers.

Facebook said it will also allow publishers to link to content -- including sponsored posts from marketers -- hosted on their own Web sites via the “related articles” section on their Instant Articles pages. This is another notable compromise from Facebook, which is generally reluctant to direct traffic out of its ecosystem.

As reported last month, Facebook began revamping its advertising offerings for Instant Articles following complaints from publishers that certain restrictions were making it difficult to monetize their content at the same rates they do on their own Web sites.

Facebook is also pushing ahead with a suite of new products for publishers. Most recently it launched Notify, an app that allows users to subscriber to push notifications from publishing partners. The app launched with more than 70 major partners including Bloomberg, CNN, Fox Sports, Fandango and The Weather Channel. Notify also allows users to share notifications with their friends.