Under fire since the introduction, at the end of 2023, of its ‘pay or consent’ advertising system, which makes paying a subscription the only alternative to accepting targeted advertising (see EUROPE 13458/14), Meta announced on Tuesday 12 November that it was introducing a third alternative, which is more in line with EU expectations.
“We will significantly reduce the price of subscription for no ads, and offer people in the EU an additional new choice to use Facebook and Instagram for free with less personalised ads”, the company announced in a statement.
This new free option, based on contextual advertising, makes less use of users’ personal data and offers a “less personalised” experience.
The introduction of this third alternative was one of the main requests made by the European Commission in its investigation into Meta last March, under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (see EUROPE 13443/4).
The company has also announced that it is cutting the price of its subscription to avoid targeted advertising by around 40%.
“We are implementing these significant changes in response to demands from EU regulators, even though the feedback goes beyond what is required in the law”, says Meta, which maintains that “studies show that people and businesses prefer personalised ads which support jobs and economic growth, and give people access to free online services”.
See the press release: https://aeur.eu/f/e9x (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)