Facebook Introduces Prefetching, to Help Load Mobile Pages

September 6, 2016

Facebook announced last week that they want to speed up the web, so they are introducing “prefetching” to pre-load mobile content in the Facebook in-app browser before a link is tapped. This new feature can shorten load time by 29% in some cases.

If you want to learn more about prefetching, Facebook has released a help section about its features.

The most interesting part of the release said that they cut down on the ad reach if advertisers don’t improve their page speeds. Here is what they said:

Over the coming months, we’re working to improve ad experiences for people by considering website performance and a person’s network connection in our ad auction and delivery system. In this way, we can better match ads to the moments when people can best engage with content. Helping to ensure the best ad experiences on mobile is key to providing value for both people and businesses on Facebook.

So in case you have been under a rock for the last year, SPEED UP YOUR WEBSITE!

Facebook also gave some suggestions to optimize your website for mobile and they are:

• Minimizing landing page redirects, plugins and link shorteners
• Compressing files to decrease mobile rendering time
• Improving server response time by utilizing multi-region hosting
• Using a high-quality Content Delivery Network to reach audiences quickly
• Removing render-blocking javascript

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