Say Goodbye to Instagram and Facebook Ads With a $14 Monthly Ad-Free Plan

Meta platforms are introducing a plan involving users in the European Union shell to pay as much as $14 to access ad-free versions of Instagram or Facebook. Additionally, the users can agree to personalized ads for the free versions, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Under the plan, Meta can charge roughly 10 euros a month on a desktop for a Facebook or Instagram account, and around 6 euros for each additional linked account, as per the report. For mobile devices, the price for a single account would go up to 13 euros roughly as Meta would cover commissions charged by Apple and Google’s app stores. The users only have the option to buy this ad-free plan or agree to the personalized ads.

Earlier this year, the social media giant was imposed a fine of 390 million euros by Ireland’s Data Privacy Commissioner. They also told Meta that it cannot utilize the so-called ‘contract’ legal basis to send users ads on the basis of their online activity.

Meta indicated its intention to ask users for their consent in the EU before allowing businesses to target advertising. This was a step to address multiple evolving regulatory requirements in the region.

Meta has now informed European Regulators that it is hoping to initiate an ad-free plan which is named subscription no ads (SNA), for European users in the coming months. A Meta spokesman told the Journal that the company believes in ‘free services which are supported by personalized ads’ but is experimenting with ‘options to ensure we comply with evolving regulatory requirements’.

One thing that is not clear is if the regulators in Ireland or Brusells will find the Meta’s new SNA plan in compliance with the European Union regulation. Moreover, as per the Meta estimates, the company has around 258 million Facebook users and 257 million Instagram users in the first six months of 2023. If the company charges $14 to all the Instagram and Facebook users the returns they will receive through this plan are daunting.

With rising compliances and the resulting paid plans, we will need to see if the users are intimidated by the new strategy. Will they be buying the SNA plan or agree to personalized ads?
What are you planning to do let us know in the comments.