The recent introduction of an ad-free subscription option on Meta, priced at €9.99 per month, comes with a significant caveat for users in the EU. While the absence of ads in personal feeds is the touted benefit, the obscured detail reveals that subscribers lose the ability to run ads or boost posts for themselves or their businesses, particularly if their linked pages are involved.
This revelation, emphasized by Meta ads expert Jon Loomer, is explicitly outlined in the company’s official terms. Meta specifies that if users subscribe to the ad-free option, they forfeit the ability to run ads or boost posts for Instagram and Facebook accounts, inhibiting promotional activities such as boosting Marketplace listings or participating in partnership ads.
Crucially, this restriction extends to Facebook Pages linked to an Instagram account with a subscription for Meta Products without ads. While users can still run ads for a linked Facebook Page independently, the constraint underscores the nuanced limitations of the subscription.
Meta justifies these restrictions by asserting that such ad features entail personal data usage, a stipulation that aligns with the EU’s stringent data permissions rules. Opting out of data sharing, a choice available to users, results in the inaccessibility of personalized ads. To maintain an ad-free experience, users must reconcile with the reality that running ads and boosting posts are incompatible with their subscription.
This complex interplay of ad-free subscriptions and marketing functionalities is indicative of Meta’s strategic response to EU regulations. By offering an ad-free option, Meta navigates the legal landscape while preserving its primary revenue stream from personalized ads. The subscription fee acts as a trade-off for users seeking privacy, but it simultaneously compels those desiring ad-related features to reconsider their subscription, aligning with Meta’s underlying preference for ad-driven revenue.