Ad-free subscriptions for Facebook and Instagram in the UK

There are now no ad subscriptions in the UK. It is spread all over Europe.

Here’s what you need to know…

Yuan Announcement

Meta announced that UK users will have a new option in the coming weeks.

1. They can use Facebook and Instagram for free to use ads.

or

2. They can pay £2.99 per month on their desktop for an ad-free experience.

From the announcement:

In the coming weeks, in response to recent UK regulatory guidance and after extensive engagement with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), we will introduce an ad-free subscription in the UK. This will allow people in the UK to choose between using Facebook and Instagram for free using personalized ads, or to stop viewing ads by subscribing.

Why?

If you think Meta is willing to do this as an alternative to advertising revenue, consider it again. This is due to pressure from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) since the beginning of this year.

This is not what Meta wants to do. By providing users with a way to use the application without having to give up data that can be used for ad targeting, this allows Meta to continue its advertising business in the normal way.

But of course, this subscription cost cannot completely replace the expenses made in advertising revenue.

Don’t be confused…

If this sounds like old news, it’s not. Meta announced similar plans for EU users nearly two years ago. In both cases, META offers ad-free options in response to regulatory pressures.

One major difference is that even after the price cut last year, the EU plan costs almost twice the price of the UK. Although Meta initially priced EU subscriptions in a way that no one registered, the UK version was clearly for sale.

How will this affect advertisers?

What does this new option mean for advertisers? I think this is bigger than most people want to admit, and I will cover it in the next video.

And more…