Offer to Brussels

Meta: Less personalized advertising in future

The EU Commission had previously criticized the fact that users have to choose between a monthly fee for an ad-free version and a free version with personalized advertising.

(Bild: AFP)

In future, users of the social networks Facebook and Instagram will have the option of less personalized advertising. Among other things, only a small amount of data such as age, location and gender will be used for advertisements, according to the parent company Meta. However, there is a catch.

Anyone who opts for the option with less personalized advertising will then be shown ads that run for several seconds and cannot be skipped.

The EU Commission had previously criticized the fact that Facebook and Instagram users have to choose between a monthly fee for an ad-free version and a free version with personalized advertising. Meta defended the choice between a paid subscription and personalized advertising as a proven business model and legally permissible.

Subscription price drops
The company has now also announced that the price for ad-free use of the platforms will be reduced by 40 percent. In future, it will cost 5.99 euros in the browser version and 7.99 euros as an app. People who use one or both services free of charge will also be given more options. 

Meta and other digital companies are currently under investigation due to a new EU law. The so-called Digital Markets Act regulates large platform operators more strictly so that they cannot take too much advantage of their market position. It was partly because of this law that Meta introduced the subscription models for ad-free use of Facebook and Instagram.

Those who do not comply with the law can be fined up to ten percent of their total global turnover. Repeat offenders can be fined 20 percent.