Meta thinks it can charge up to $17 per month to eliminate ads on Facebook and Instagram

[Shawn Knight]

WTF?! Would you pay a monthly fee to use Facebook and Instagram without the ads? Some users may soon have the opportunity to do just that. Meta recently pitched a plan to European regulators that would allow Instagram users to pay around $14 per month for an ad-free IG experience on mobile, or about $17 per month to include Facebook in the bundle.

The initiative, dubbed subscription no ads, or SNA for short, could start rolling out in selection European nations within the coming months, sources familiar with the proposal told The Wall Street Journal.

The publication said the proposal is an answer by Meta to European Union rules that would limit the company's ability to show users targeted ads based on data collected without their consent. Ad revenue is Meta's bread and butter, so anything that challenges that will most certainly be addressed, one way or another.

Once implemented, the change would give users in select regions the option to continue using Facebook and Instagram for free with personalized ads, or pay to unlock a version without any ads (and presumably, limited personal data collection). Access to ad-free services would be more expensive for mobile users, sources said, because Meta would have to account for commissions charged by Apple and Google app stores for in-app payments.

It is worth reiterating that Meta's proposal is limited to the European Union to appease regulators. If you are in the US or elsewhere, don't expect to see Facebook or Instagram premium subscription offerings anytime soon.

There is also no guarantee at this stage that regulators will accept Meta's proposal as presented. They very well could insist the company reduce its proposed pricing or make them offer a free version with ads that aren't based on user activity.

The question stands: if given the opportunity, would you pay to ditch ads and limit data collection on Facebook and Instagram? What'd it be worth to you?

Image credit: Julio Lopez, Alexander Shatov

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100369-meta-wants-charge-european-users-eliminate-ads-facebook.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

LOL. LMAO even.

 

[m4a4]

I could see a few $ per month being "reasonable", but over $10?

Man, it's like these companies think their app is the only one everyone uses and so they don't consider the compounding subscription costs.
I'm sure they'd get a lot more people willing to pay for it if it wasn't ridiculously high (considering they don't have high bandwidth like a Netflix)...

 

[Kam7r]

LOL. LMAO even.

had the same reaction

 

[yRaz]

My adblocker says otherwise......
Frankly, the ad problem is one of their own creations. I remember when articles had an ad half way through the website, a vertical banner and some ads at the bottom of the webpage. I visited a website on my friends phone that had so many ads in it that they were covering each other up. There were several ads on this tiny 6 inch touchscreen phone. One of them was a video that auto played and one of them was a pop up that slide on from the top of the screen.

These companies need to be more reasonable with what they expect a "reasonable amount of ads" to be. I also have experience the "Tiny 'x'" in ads before where the X is to tiny that you accidentally click on the ad. So, yeah, adblocker it is.

Also, facebook is not worth $17/m, I have no idea how they got that number. I'd pay maybe $10 a year but they would need to stop tracking me and selling my data. I don't even use facebook anymore.

I understand that if they're offering a product for free that the money has to come from somewhere. We need reasonable advertising practices and people are less likely to block ads.

 

[toooooot]

At least it is optional.

 

[Cycloid Torus]

I see a very bright future for the Alt-That website.

 

[MikePellegrini]

Before I ditched facebook, I used a combination of AdBlock Plus (or uBlock Origin) and FB Purity. Using that combination, I had ZERO ads. Plus, FB Purity gives you complete control over your newsfeed and every other portion of the facebook page - in a browser, not their app. And FB Purity is free. I never had any ads, and I never had any of the other annoying stuff they try to slip in to boost their revenue (now trending...).

https://www.fbpurity.com/

 

[m4a4]

Before I ditched facebook, I used a combination of AdBlock Plus (or uBlock Origin) and FB Purity. Using that combination, I had ZERO ads. Plus, FB Purity gives you complete control over your newsfeed and every other portion of the facebook page - in a browser, not their app. And FB Purity is free. I never had any ads, and I never had any of the other annoying stuff they try to slip in to boost their revenue (now trending...).

https://www.fbpurity.com/

I use this (don't think I even have adblock running on the site because of it). Can recommend for people that want to keep FB, but ditch their "curation".

 

[RandomWAN]

They start charging and I'll stop using it all together. I only use FB for groups and marketplace, but I'm not willing to pay for access.

 

[Rocky4040]

There's AD's on Facebook...lol never seen one in 15 years on my own systems and family and friends systems.
That AD Blocker I use must be doing it's job then lol.

 

[3ogdy]

"... appease to European Union rules that would limit the company's ability to show users targeted ads based on data collected without their consent."

So I have to pay in order for Facebook NOT to use my data WITHOUT my consent?

Mark, that's not how it works. If I don't consent to the collection, data collection without my consent shall not exist, to begin with.

Moreover, I shall have the right to sue Facebook for illegally harvesting data without my consent.

Nope, not only would I NEVER pay to use FB, but I just don't use FB altogether.

 

[m4a4]

So I have to pay in order for Facebook NOT to use my data WITHOUT my consent?

Mark, that's not how it works. If I don't consent to the collection, data collection without my consent shall not exist, to begin with.

Lol, you consented when you used their free service for, umm, free...

 

[amghwk]

Time to ditch Facebook for good. If not for my wife's insistence since she wants to share our lives with her friends, I would have long deleted my existence in it.

 

[gnite]

I'm actually one of the weirdos who would gladly pay for ad-free facebook (not interested in IG), I wanted that option for ages, but the price needs to be reasonable... €10 max, preferably under.

 

[RudyBob]

What gets me is that the people that buy the ads think they work. They must, eh? Me ? I like commenting on the red LED facemasks and the awful, awful "men's" clothes.

 

[James Ryan]

What gets me is that the people that buy the ads think they work. They must, eh? Me ? I like commenting on the red LED facemasks and the awful, awful "men's" clothes.

I'm not sure about FB ads but YouTube ads are generally just viewed by bot accounts so you are getting stuff all back for your money. It's almost entirely a scam.

 

[Shadad]

Or... I can delete both apps and get red of ADs and keep my privacy for FREE

 

[Gastec]

Indeed this a ROFL moment! Why limit yourself to $17 when you can charge $29.99/month?

 

[3volv3d]

Advertising should be banned worldwide.
If your product can't survive word of mouth tough.
Most businesses shouldn't exist they sell and make trash, waste resources etc.
Products get a massive mark up because they paid for advertising and you're paying for it.

And FB is just pushing people elsewhere.
Gj

 

[dangh]

Advertising should be banned worldwide.
If your product can't survive word of mouth tough.
Most businesses shouldn't exist they sell and make trash, waste resources etc.
Products get a massive mark up because they paid for advertising and you're paying for it.

And FB is just pushing people elsewhere.
Gj

This is example of prisoner dilemma. Companies would earn more money if they weren't advertising, and their market share would be similar, maybe we would see more independent stuff though. But because one company advertising would get straight away an advantage, all of them have put a lot of efforts and resources to keep the same status as if none would. Except small, independent ones, those are at loss.
But this would be possible only in one case: pure autocratic, communistic regime. China or North Korea could push that through. But China do not care, advertising money are taxable and more expensive goods are taxable, and that is as well reason no other governments would touch it. It brings money.
The only way to counter that is well educated, critically thinking society. But, that would be a demise of oligarch and many governments, so there are limited number of nations who actually trying to do so.

OT: FB is just trying to pretend to give people options hoping no one would pay this crazy sum as creating a separate DB and actually changing their algorithms would be a hell of a work. So, they are hoping nothing will change and EU will take this solution as good one. I, on the other hand, hope the EU will get pissed and will implement a hard block on sharing EU citizens data, so companies like FB won't be able to do what they please, and either will have to leave EU or adjust and fix the issues. Both would be consider a win in my eyes.

 

[Dimitrios]

LOL paying for censorship, what a great deal.

 

[Vrmithrax]

A small fee for no ads would probably be gladly paid by many people - keep in mind, the readership here are typically much more advanced in tech than the typical layperson. Plenty of people out there in the world who aren't savvy to things like ad blockers, who suffer through ads, and find Facebook useful to keep in touch with their other less than technical friends and family. Meta might be on to something, but they need to keep it reasonable or risk spooking that demographic.

What I see happening, though, is that the second Meta starts charging for no ads, the "free loaders" who aren't paying will see an uptick in advertising, and it will become more and more invasive. Eventually, the product will become almost impossible to use unless you subscribe. Might be a jaded view of the future, but it'll be interesting to see if I'm right.

 

[Darth Zurath]

What makes people to use this garbage in the first place is something I'll never grasp.

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

Is this a joke? I don't use these services but, wow.... I'm sure they will continue to collect data on you after because we all know their data collection isn't just to present you with ads.