TikTok may be going ad-free for five bucks a month, but you’ll have to pay a bit more for a similar experience on Meta’s platforms. A new report details Meta’s proposal to offer a version of Facebook and Instagram with no ads that would cost nearly $17/month.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Meta is currently considering subscription ad-free plans for users in Europe. The subscription would continue to drive revenue for Meta while the company complies with new rules requiring it to let users opt out of ads.
New privacy regulations in the EU will force Meta to request express consent before serving users with personalized advertising. Facebook and Instagram would remain free for users who grant permission to receive personalized ads.
WSJ breaks down how pricing per account would work under the proposal:
Under the plan, Meta has told regulators it would charge users roughly €10 a month, equivalent to about $10.50, on desktop on a Facebook or Instagram account, and roughly €6 for each additional linked account, the people said. On mobile devices the price would jump to roughly €13 a month because Meta would factor in commissions charged by Apple’s and Google’s app stores on in-app payments.
The report notes that it’s unclear if EU regulators will accept a paid subscription as a compliant alternative to personalized advertising. For example, regulators could require Meta to offer a version of Facebook and Instagram for free with ads that do not use personal data for targeted ads.
For its part, Meta is pointing to other services like YouTube that use similar monthly pricing to offer ad-free experiences for users. Presumably, the subscription plan to remove ads would be limited to the EU where targeted advertising based on personal data is under scrutiny. That’s in part because Meta likely earns more per user on average than even the steep subscription plans would cost.
Would you pay for an ad-free version of Facebook and Instagram? Sound off in the comments.
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