Since the earliest days of Facebook there has been a constant hum of concern by users that they would eventually be forced into paying for the platform. It has only taken 21 years, but users will soon be offered the chance to subscribe to Facebook.
In the coming weeks, Meta will launch a subscription for users of Facebook and Instagram in the United Kingdom. The subscription isn’t a paywall and it isn’t mandatory, but rather it provides users an opportunity to opt-out of targeted advertising on the popular social platforms.
The subscription will be priced at 2.99 pounds (AU$6.10) a month on the web and 3.99 (AU$8.15) pounds if you subscribe via iOS and Android.
Why now
Consider this in the same way that companies like Apple started phasing out its Lightning cables when European regulators put in place rules that stopped the use of proprietary cables, insisting on universal standards like USB-C.
The decision by Meta to introduce the subscription is a reaction to a guidance issued in January by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
ICO called for the introduction of “consent or pay” models to be introduced by digital platforms in the UK. With the introduction of this approach, ICO said that people can make active decisions about how they can consent to their personal information being traded for platform access. The three options ICO decided was fair, would be for users to either use the services as they exist now, be offered the ability to pay to opt-out, or for people to simply choose not to use the platforms.
Just eight months later, Meta is following this guidance.
The company is putting a positive spin on it, talking up users now having greater control over their online experience. It says that users choosing the paid plan will not see ads and their data will not be used for advertising purposes. This, obviously, doesn’t include the sponsored content from influencers that have become a staple of content on the platform.
In a telling statement released by ICO in response, the price point Meta originally wanted to charge customers was considerably higher. A spokesperson for ICO said: “During the course of our engagement with Meta, it significantly lowered the starting price point at which users would be offered a subscription. As a result, users in the UK will be able to subscribe at a price point close to half that of EU users.
“Meta has also responded to the ICO’s request that the price set provides UK consumers with a fair choice between consenting to targeted ads using their data or paying to subscribe to no ads.”
European Facebook users are charged between €9.99 to €12.99 per month for ad-free versions of the social networks, following a similar product launch in November 2023. It followed the issue of a €200m earlier that year by the European Commission, stating the company should have launched a free version of its sites that used less detailed personal data, such as gender, age and location, for making targeted ads.
What could this cost Meta?
Earlier this year it was estimated that Google and Meta accounted for at least half the record £42.6 billion spent on UK advertising in 2024.
With 69.23 million people in Britain, if every person signed up to Meta’s new £2.99 per month ad-free plan, that would yield just £207 million per month, or £2.48 billion a year. That’s a dramatic shortfall from what the company is making now from advertising.
This is why you’re not likely to see similar products roll out internationally.
Some have argued that Apple has actually benefitted from being forced to phase out the Lightning cables in Europe. The company has been working to switch all of its ports to USB-C and have subsequently argued that the ubiquity of USB-C cables justifies a decision to stop shipping new cables with every new phone. But, the new ICO guidance and suggested price points is dramatically reducing the profits that Facebook are seeing.
So, don’t expect to see an ad-free Facebook product in Australia anytime soon.
In April, it was reported that local Facebook revenue rose to $1.46 billion. With 27.2 million Aussies being charged at a similar $6 per month price as they are being asked to pay in the UK, it does get Meta to a very healthy $1.96 billion per year. But it’s a pretty safe assumption to make that there aren’t enough Australians who would be happy ponying up $6 a month (or $72 a year) for ad-free Facebook to get the company where it would want to be. Do you know just how much avocado toast you’d be able to eat each day for what Facebook would be wanting you to pay to go ad-free?
There’s no incentive for Facebook to roll out ad-free access locally and we haven’t heard much in terms of local political interest in applying similar pressure on the company. Until that happens, your feeds will continue to be filled with innovative mens boxer shorts, cans of tea, and whatever else the algorithms have decided will best part you with your dollars.