Facebook Tests Limiting Link Posts to Just 2 Per Month
Facebook seems to be testing a potential cap on link posts for non–Meta Verified Pages and Professional Mode personal profiles, limiting them to just TWO organic link posts per month.
What We Know, What We Don’t, and Why It Matters
This week I shared an emerging development on Facebook that has sparked significant discussion, concern, and (understandably) requests for citations.
Several people have asked:
“Where is the official Meta announcement?”
As of today, there is no formal Meta Newsroom post confirming a global rollout of this change. That distinction matters, and I want to be very clear about it.
What does exist, however, is something Meta often uses before public announcements:
On-platform notifications and emails to users in select regions.
Here’s the post I shared on my Facebook personal profile about this topic:
What Triggered This Investigation
Recently, several Facebook users began receiving direct notifications from Meta indicating a change to how links can be shared in organic Facebook posts.
Here is one such notification shared by Kylie Mowbray-Allen, a long-time friend and fellow social media marketing expert based in Australia:
Kylie shared that screenshot in the comments of the following post:
Facebook’s notification states:
Starting December 16, certain Facebook profiles without Meta Verified, including yours, will be limited to sharing links in 2 organic posts per month.
It also explicitly encourages subscribing to Meta Verified to unlock additional link sharing.
What To Do If You Are Affected By The 2 Link Limit
Notably, links shared in comments, certain affiliate links (unspecified what this actually means, so far, by Meta), and links to Meta’s own platforms do not appear to be affected.
If this test expands, the smartest approach will be to lean further into native content formats on Facebook, such as image posts, reels, and text with background color. Then put your ‘everyday’ links into a comment on your own post. This strategy has been around for probably close to a decade, tbh!
Save your actual ‘link posts’ for key business priorities like launches, webinars, or list-building campaigns. This is where the link is an actual preview (a true ‘link post’), or a link in the caption of a video/reel post or a photo post.
Organic Marketing STILL Works on Facebook!
Even with a limitation on link posts, you can still do a TON of effective organic marketing and true relationship marketing using all that Facebook offers. Encourage conversation. Spark discussions on your posts, not just between you and your audience members. But members speaking to one another in the threaded comments.
And get people into the DMs! This is gold. This is almost as good as having someone’s cell phone number because in the DMs you’re now in a 1:1 conversation with just that one person.
Important Context: The Link Limitation Is Likely a Test!
At this stage, based on everything I’ve seen and verified:
- This is almost certainly a regional or account-type test for select users only
- This does NOT appear to be a globally announced policy
- Meta has not yet published an official Newsroom update (and likely may not!)
This type of ‘stealth’ limited rollout/test is not unusual.
Meta frequently:
- Tests changes quietly
- Rolls them out by region
- Limits them to specific account types
- Observes behavioral impact before formal announcement
We’ve seen this pattern repeatedly over the last decade, right?!
What Is Being Observed So Far
Based on screenshots, notifications, and firsthand reports across multiple countries (Australia, parts of Europe, and select U.S. accounts), here is what appears consistent within the test group:
Accounts potentially affected
- Personal profiles switched to Professional Mode
- Public Facebook Pages (business/creator pages)
Classic personal profiles (non-professional mode) do not appear to be affected. No doubt because they are not typically used for commercial link sharing. So if you are simply using Facebook to connect with actual friends and family, it seems you can happily post links if you wish. Even so, link posts have long had the lowest reach across Facebook… so maybe don’t go too crazy and put your links in the comments.
A note on ProMode profiles: Facebook first began to test Professional Mode in late 2021 as an answer to those creators (and maybe small business owners/professionals) who did not have a Facebook business page, or did and gave up using it. Facebook saw that more and more people were using their profile for business reasons and the ProMode option created the ‘best of both worlds.’ ProMode gives you access to post and audience insights, the ability to schedule posts and boost posts, and monetization features (if that’s even important to you).
What types of links are limited?
- All external links shared directly in feed posts
- The apparent limit: 2 organic link posts per month
What is not limited
- Links in your own comments on your own posts
- Links to Meta-owned platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp)
- “Supported affiliate links” (Meta has not clearly defined this yet)
Why This Actually Fits Meta’s Long-Term Strategy
Whether or not this test becomes a permanent feature, it aligns perfectly with trends we’ve all been seeing for years:
1. Facebook prioritizes on-platform engagement
Meta has consistently reduced reach on posts that drive users away from Facebook.
2. Link posts have had the lowest reach for over a decade!!
This is not new. Marketers adapted long ago by:
- Using first-comment links
- Creating value-first native content
- Focusing on saves, shares, and comments
- Sparking 1:1 conversations in the DMs
- Growing engagement in Facebook groups
Resource: check out Facebook’s quarterly Widely Viewed Content Report.
Where most Feed views come from
“98.1% of the views in the US during Q3 2025 did not include a link to a source outside of Facebook. For the 1.9% of views in posts that did include a link, they typically came from a Page the person followed (this includes posts which may also have had photos and videos, in addition to links).“
3. Meta Verified is being aggressively positioned
This appears to be part of a broader push to:
- Monetize professional usage
- Create tiered access for business features
- Incentivize creators and businesses to pay for distribution privileges
And, I rather suspect Meta is pushing hard to squeeze more revenue out of every possible corner of its family of apps and services… to supplement ad revenue.
OR, is it a move to get as many credit cards on file? I just read this comment on Jason Schemmel’s post:
It’s also a move to turn it into a payments platform by getting everyone’s credit card details and compete with the long term vision of X
Wow. Could that have a grain of truth? Hm.
(Don’t get me started on the $$billions of fraudulent ad revenue from China!)
View on Threads
A Crucial Clarification About Links in Comments
One nuance many people are noticing lately:
- Links are clickable when YOU add a comment to YOUR OWN post
- Links are often NOT clickable when added to someone else’s post
This behavior has been quietly evolving and reinforces Meta’s preference for creator-controlled engagement, not drive-by link drops.
Why I Shared This Before an Official Announcement
Several people asked why I posted about this without a Meta Newsroom citation.
Here’s my reasoning:
- I’ve been working in Facebook marketing since 2007
- I’ve seen hundreds of major changes over nearly two decades surface first via:
- User notifications
- Email notices
- Limited regional rollouts
- Many of those later became official policy
My intention was not to declare this as a confirmed global rule — but to:
- Alert professionals early
- Encourage awareness
- Spark informed discussion
Which, clearly, it has.
Meta Verified Subscription Service For Creators – Is It Worth It?
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, first began testing its paid subscription service, Meta Verified, in February 2023, initially in Australia and New Zealand, before rolling it out to the U.S. in March 2023 for creators and later for businesses, offering a blue badge, impersonation protection, and support for a monthly fee.
I tested Meta Verified on both my Facebook personal profile and Instagram business account for around one year from 2023-24. After which time, I wanted to change my Facebook personal profile picture… and discovered I could not. The spelling of my first name is slightly different on my ID (an extra, silent “i”). So I was stuck and the only workaround was to cancel my subscription. Besides, I found the benefits were nominal anyway.
Meta has since added more tiers and we now get into what I can only call ‘silly money’ for the higher ones. I imagine some creators and brands actually pay these levels, otherwise the tiers wouldn’t exist, right?
In any case, I broke down the tiers, their prices and how many links in reels you can include:
- Standard $14.99 USD/mo per profile = 0 Links in reels per month
- Plus $49.99 USD/mo per profile = 2 Links in reels per month
- Premium $149.99 USD/mo per profile = 4 Links in reels per month
- Max $499.99 USD/mo per profile = 6 Links in reels per month
Given these prices are PER PROFILE, we can assume the ability to add links to reels applies to Instagram and/or Facebook, yes? Hm.
The BUSINESS tiers of Meta Verified have similar names and link limitations with slightly different pricing and a few different features, such as multi-agent. (Manage large numbers of customer inquiries and orders more efficiently by connecting multiple devices to your account and assigning chats to your sales agents).
- Business Standard $14.99 USD/mo per profile = 0 Links in reels per month
- Business Plus $44.99 USD/mo per profile = 2 Links in reels per month
- Business Premium $119.99 USD/mo per profile = 4 Links in reels per month
- Business Max $349.99 USD/mo per profile = 6 Links in reels per month
So, is it worth it? It’s entirely up to you to test!! For me personally, nope. Not worth one penny. I might be gung-ho if there really were tangible benefits such as an increase in reach, views, engagement. But mostly that’s all subjective, tbh.
The Bottom Line (For Now)
Here’s the most accurate takeaway at this moment:
- No official global Meta announcement yet about the 2 link limitation
- Strong evidence of a live test
- Clear alignment with Meta’s long-term platform goals of preventing users from leaving the sites
- No immediate need to panic, that’s for sure!!
There are plenty of ways to adapt — as marketers always do!!
- Keep sharing your links in COMMENTS on your own posts
- Build value and intrigue in your image, video/reel, text/background color posts…
- Spark engagement in the comments
- Incentivize your audience members to engage in the DMs with you
I will continue monitoring:
- Official Meta communications
- Additional regions
- Policy documentation updates
And I’ll share confirmed updates as soon as they exist.
Over to You
If this test did roll out globally, would you:
- Adjust your content strategy?
- Consider Meta Verified?
- Lean more heavily into on-platform content and community?
I’d love to hear from you. And, as always, I’m committed to transparency, responsibility, and sharing what’s real as it unfolds.
As with all emerging platform changes, details may evolve. This article reflects information available at the time of publishing.
Additional Sources/Posts About This Topic
For some of these posts/sources, it’s worth clicking/tapping through to read the comments for additional context and intel!
From a Facebook friend, Jason Schemmel, based in Grand Rapids, MI – published December 16…
From my long time friend and fellow social media marketing pro, Molly Mahoney, published December 16:
From a Facebook user based in San Francisco, CA.
From a Facebook user back on December 5. This post mentions a start date of December 10 for the rollout:
And the following post (in Cebuano) on Instagram:
…and with continued deep searching, I just came across this blog post by Emma Goode from ’24 Fingers’ in Essex, UK: Facebook’s New Two Link Rule Explained: What Small Businesses Need to Know
Content Authenticity Statement: This article was crafted with the help of ChatGPT using my original, manually crafted post on Facebook as the source. Then the entire article was reviewed, edited, refined and added to manually by me, fingers on the keyboard. Plus the hero image was created using Google Gemini Nano Banana and a super simple prompt. You’re welcome to read my company’s Generative AI Policy. As inspired by our friends at the Marketing AI Institute with their Creative Commons Responsible AI Manifesto for Marketing and Business.
