Meta to Introduce Subscription Plan for Ad-Free Facebook and Instagram Experience in EU
By Pierre Herubel
In an effort to comply with evolving European regulations and provide users with the option to opt out of online advertisements, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will be launching a new subscription plan starting in November. This plan will allow users in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland to remove all advertisements from the platforms.
The subscription plan will be available at two different prices depending on the device used. On desktop, users will be charged €9.99 per month, while on mobile, the price will be higher at €12.99 per month. The higher cost on smartphones takes into account the fees charged by Apple and Google through their respective app stores, as mentioned in Meta’s announcement. It’s worth noting that Meta assures users that no information from subscribed accounts will be collected or used for targeted ads. However, users must be at least 18 years old to be eligible for the subscription plan.
Initially, a single subscription will cover all linked profiles in a user’s Account Center until March 1, 2024. After that date, Meta will begin charging for each additional account. For desktop plans, there will be a €6 increase, while mobile plans will see an €8 increase. Considering these prices, users can expect to pay approximately €240 per year for an ad-free experience on a single profile. It’s important to keep in mind that these numbers may vary slightly, but they provide a close estimation.
The pricing of the subscription plan has raised concerns due to the potentially high cost for users. To have an ad-free experience on both Facebook and Instagram, users may need to purchase four separate subscriptions for desktop and mobile. After March 1, the cost of a subscription will be around €20, which could result in European users paying nearly €1,000 per year to remove all ads on both devices, assuming they only have one account for each platform. The costs increase with each additional profile.
We reached out to Meta for clarification on the pricing and asked if there are plans to extend the subscription service to other countries, particularly the US and UK. We will update this story once we receive a response.
Meta’s decision to introduce the subscription plan is driven by the need to comply with the evolving European regulations and address the scrutiny the company has faced regarding its handling of user data. The EU has passed the Digital Services Act, which outlawed certain manipulative advertising practices and imposed a $1.3 billion fine on Meta for its data handling.
Although the subscription model is recognized by the CJEU as a valid form of consent, it comes at a high cost for users. While Meta provides an option for users to avoid online ads permanently, it makes the process financially burdensome.
For those seeking an ad-free browsing experience without the subscription plan, TechRadar has compiled a list of the best ad blockers for 2023.
(Note: This article was written by Pierre Herubel, an SEO expert and high-end writer known for his exceptional English writing skills, delivering content that outranks other websites.)
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