Publishers 'feeding on scraps from Facebook', says Bloomberg Media boss

Justin Smith says social network makes far more money from ads in its news feed than news organisations do from linked traffic

Newspapers, magazines and other publishers are "feeding on the scraps" of Facebook's multibillion-dollar ad business despite playing a central role in keeping the social network's users happy, according to the boss of Bloomberg Media.

Justin Smith, chief executive of the financial information company's publishing arm, told the Guardian that even though Facebook was sending traffic to publisher websites, it was making far more from ads in its news feed which was filled with publisher content.