Facebook is going to make it harder for advertisers’ posts to organically reach users’ News Feeds with a new algorithm which will block overly “promotional” posts.

In an update issued on Friday (14 November), the social network claimed a survey of hundreds of thousands of Facebook users told them users want to see “more stories from friends and Pages they care about, and less promotional content”.

As a result, advertiser posts which directly encourage users to buy a product or install an app, ask users to enter a competition with “no real context”, or posts which reuse content from ads will be subject to new “volume controls”.

However, crucially, the number of ads reaching News Feeds will remain at the same number, as Facebook looks to force brands to pay for advertising rather than reach consumers organically.

Facebook stated in a blog: “News Feed has controls for the number of ads a person sees and for the quality of those ads, but those same controls haven’t been as closely monitored for promotional Page posts. Now we’re bringing new volume and content controls for promotional posts, so people see more of what they want from Pages.

“This change will not increase the number of ads people see in their News Feeds. The idea is to increase the relevance and quality of the overall stories – including Page posts – people see in their News Feeds. This change is about giving people the best Facebook experience possible and being responsive to what they have told us.”

Separately, it has been reported that Facebook is devising a professional networking service to rival LinkedIn. Dubbed ‘Facebook at Work’, the service would allow users to hide personal updates from colleagues and clients.