Meta explores options to charge EU users for ad-free subscriptions

Eideen@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 125 points –
Meta explores options to charge EU users for ad-free subscriptions - source
reuters.com
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Probably the end of facebook in the EU someone will come out with a Clone and make it free with no ads

Why? Who would have the infrastructure and funds to create a free and ad-free Facebook clone that can take over the scale of the Facebook userbase? What do you think happens when donations aren't covering your Lemmy instance by a wide margin?

Doubt

Considering we're already on an ad-free Reddit clone?

Which clearly isn't as big and mainstream as Reddit

It's not the end of Reddit

Reddit was around for a long time as a competitor to Digg before the latter shot itself in the ass. Reddit is still in the 'fuck around' phase with a hint of 'find out'.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

Digg was nowhere close to as big as reddit is now.

Look at all the dumb shit twitter has done and it still is a gargantuan platform. Like it or not, these platforms aren't going anywhere.

Very few people actively delete their accounts, but platform eventually die if they can't attract the next generation (young users). Less than 20% of the youth use Facebook for example, because they don't want to be in the same platform as their parents watching them, it will be a long painful day death. Same thing can happen to any platform.

Facebook just hit it's record high of 4 billion monthly active users lol

Just because it's profitable now, doesn't mean it's going to be the case in the future or be sustainable (example, fossil fuels).

We've got one that is orders of magnitude smaller and has no where near the number or quality of communities as Reddit.

And that there's already federated Facebookesque software out there. I've not looked into it, mind you. I don't think there's a market much for Facebook replacements. Most people able to know about a federated equivalent probably don't want to be on Facebook, and if they're on it at all are just there to interact with the few holdouts that insist on remaining there and are secretly hoping it self-destructs.

That's great, but a hundred bucks says they'll be ad free for those subscribers for 5 years or so and then they will creep back in, then you'll need a Facebookplus+ subscription to get rid of the ads.

Lol Facebookplus+STierPlatinum+

I actually think that's a good idea, but it would be nice to have some extra features too.

Kinda like YouTube premium

Compared to YouTube, how much do you actually use Facebook?

Youtube doesn't have real competition because hosting video is much more expensive than text. That's why Google doesn't make individual reports about YouTube, it's most likely not profitable.

It’s still wild to me twitch saves full VODs but doesn’t allow strangers to cut/upload videos to compete with YouTube

They do make individual reports and it is profitable?

It hasn't been profitable for a long time. Its only recently that it became profitable

Edit: I actually couldn't find anything about it's profability and most sources say it's not really profitable.

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A lot less than I would is every other item in my stream wasn't an ad.

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As if some kind of subscription would make Meta stop with it’s surveillance… this will just be in top.

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Oct 2 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) is exploring options to introduce ad-free subscription plans for Instagram and Facebook users in Europe, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The proposal is an attempt by Meta to circumvent European Union regulations that threaten to curb its ability to personalize ads for users without their consent and hurt its major revenue source.

Offering a choice between a free, ad-supported plan and a paid subscription might lead to users opting for the former, helping Meta comply with regulations without affecting its ad business.

On mobile devices, the price for a single account would jump to roughly 13 euros because Meta would factor in commissions charged by Apple's and Google's app stores, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The social media company was fined 390 million euros earlier this year by Ireland's Data Privacy Commissioner and told it cannot use the so-called "contract" legal basis to send users ads based on their online activity.

A Meta spokesperson said the company believes in "free services which are supported by personalized ads", but is exploring "options to ensure we comply with evolving regulatory requirements".


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