Subscription for ad-free use
Facebook and Instagram will soon cost money
October 3, 2023, 9:34 a.m
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Meta is not allowed to use their data for personalized advertising without users’ consent. To get around this regulation, the company is reportedly planning an ad-free subscription for Instagram and Facebook. There are already price suggestions.
According to a media report, Facebook or Instagram without advertising costs from ten euros per month in the EU. The parent company Meta mentioned this price in proposals to regulators, wrote the Wall Street Journal. For another linked account – for example if someone wants to use both Facebook and Instagram without advertising – an additional six euros should be charged. On the smartphone, the subscription will cost 13 euros instead of 10 euros, it was said, citing informed people.
Meta is reacting to the changing data protection situation in Europe with paid subscriptions. Following court rulings and regulator decisions, among other things, the requirement to use users’ permission to personalize advertising is being more strictly enforced. Data from different services under the umbrella of a group may only be combined with the express consent of the users.
Meta believes that an ad-free version could curb regulators’ concerns, the New York Times wrote at the beginning of September. The “Wall Street Journal” is now reporting on Meta’s price expectations for the first time. According to this, Meta wants to introduce its SNA program (“Subscription No Ads”) for users in Europe in the coming months.
In the last quarter, Facebook alone generated revenue of $17.88 per user in Europe, almost entirely from advertising. That would be less than six euros a month – although the average figure also includes some countries outside the EU where advertising revenue per user is likely to be lower than in the Union.
The group had previously always rejected paid subscriptions on the grounds that its services should be available to everyone. According to the “Wall Street Journal”, it is still unclear whether the authorities in Brussels and at Meta’s European headquarters in Ireland will accept the proposal – or whether they will require free access to the services even for users who do not consent to the use of their data for personalization give advertisements.