Instagram and Facebook announces to launch a premium ad-free subscription

Facebook and Instagram adverts will be eliminated with the debut of Meta’s premium subscription service. Across the European Union, the service can be accessed for roughly €9.99 per month on the web or €12.99 per month on iOS and Android, with additional fees for those platforms.

The subscription aims to address concerns raised by the European Union regarding Meta’s methods for collecting data and targeting advertisements. Meta believes that by requiring users to choose between using the service for free and agreeing to its data collection practises, or paying for the service to remove ad targeting, it will have more clearly and definitively complied with privacy requirements set by a number of European data laws, such as the GDPR and the Digital Markets Act.

In a blog post announcing the new subscription, Meta states, “We respect the spirit and purpose of these evolving European regulations, and are committed to complying with them.”

Meta promises to keep providing its products to those who would choose not to pay for them for free. According to the company, its current ad preference tools will still be accessible, and the experience for customers who do not pay will not alter.

The ad-free subscription will only be available to EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens who are 18 years of age or older. At first, it will cover all linked Instagram and Facebook accounts, but Meta will gradually charge more for those that are linked. There will be an extra charge of €6 on the web or €8 on iOS and Android per linked account as of March 1st, 2024. The company says that users’ data won’t be used for ad targeting as long as they are active subscribers.

Meta appears to be working on a different plan specifically for teenage consumers. Starting on November 6th, the company will temporarily stop showing ads to teenagers in the area, according to a statement provided to The Wall Street Journal. Information regarding the duration of the pause is lacking.

Meta is still giving top priority to the ad-supported business, which powers its platforms, as the company’s subscription announcement makes evident. When the service does start, it will only be available as an optional purchase in countries where consumer data is highly secured. The new subscription is only portrayed as a product designed to comply with European rules, since the firm states in its blog post that it “believe in an ad-supported internet.”

But many people have been requesting this product track. With the use of Facebook’s products, ads are targeted to you depending on your online activity. We will now observe the true number of people who are willing to pay to avoid its glare and the annoyance of constant advertisements on their Instagram accounts.