This can’t be good…
While the battle between Meta and EU regulators may finally be over, it’s at a cost.
If this sounds familiar, you’d be forgiven. The same thing supposedly happened about a year ago. I’m confused, too.
The Agreement
Meta will give users in the EU three options:
1. Use Facebook and Instagram for free, as they always have, and your data will be used to inform the ads you see.
2. Pay for an ad-free subscription and your data won’t be used for ads.
3. Opt into sharing less personal data for an experience with limited personalized advertising.
This is a Mess
Meta can’t be happy about this. Two years ago, Meta launched an ad-free subscription option, thinking it would appease regulators. It didn’t, so Meta cut the price multiple times. It still didn’t do it.
So now Meta offers a paid subscription that’s cheaper than it’s ever been — and Meta probably doesn’t want anyone to buy — and a new free option to share less data. That’s a rough deal.
Users who choose the less personal data option will see less relevant ads. That will hurt the user experience, and it will make ads less effective. It will also shrink the pool of users who can be targeted in the EU who provide their data. So the cost of advertising could also go up.
Keep an eye on this since it will likely set a precedent for other parts of the world.
