Less personalized advertising on Facebook and Insta in the EU
Users of the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram in the EU will soon have the option to receive less personalized ads. According to Meta, the parent company, ads will then use only a limited amount of data—such as age, location, and gender—among other things.
However, those who opt for the option with less personalized advertising will then also be shown ads that run for a few seconds and cannot be skipped. According to Meta, significantly more data has been used for personalized advertising to date.
The EU Commission had previously criticized the fact that users of Facebook and Instagram have to choose between a monthly fee for an ad-free version and a free version with personalized advertising.
Ad-free use becomes cheaper
In addition, the price for ad-free use of the platforms is to 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 defended the choice between a paid subscription and personalized advertising as a proven business model and legally permissible.
New EU legislation
Meta and other digital companies are currently under investigation due to a new EU law. The 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.
Anyone who does not comply with the law can be fined up to ten percent of the total worldwide turnover. Repeat offenders can be fined 20 percent. (SDA)
