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Meta to Charge Monthly Fees for Using Ad-Free Facebook and Instagram

15 points by hubraumhugo 3y ago

tayo42 3y ago
I guess that's why things are ad supported. That is alot of money for something that provides pretty minimal value to my life. Spotify is cheaper which is interesting too.
throwaheyy 3y ago
Yuck. Not sure I’d pay money to find out what Meta’s definition of “ad” is. Sure the explicit ads may be gone but what about all the “promoted content” and chum-boxes? I consider those to be ads too. This is Meta we’re talking about. You can pay, but the ads will be back at some point, whether you like it or not.
mock-possum 3y ago
Create a problem, sell the solution
notRobot 3y ago
Oh hey, I was wondering about this on HN just a couple weeks ago: Ask HN: Why don't social media apps allow users to pay to remove ads? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37667947 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37667947
- Gunax 3y ago
  It seems as though we are in competition with the ad buyers. And it turns out, the ad buyers will usually pay more to show an ad, than the recipients will pay to not show it. I was once a member of a forum that ran on ads. Users asked and begged for an ad-free version for years. Finally, the owner added it. But everyone revolted: the cost to go ad-free (something loke $15 per year) was way too high! But it turns out that was far below what advertisers would pay. By his estimate, he was losing money every time someone bought the allegedly too-expensive ad free version. I think the short answer is that consumers are cheap.
great_psy 3y ago
Wow … does this mean Meta is running into cash problems ? Or just another way to make money ? Either way, by implementing this pricing scheme meta is showing it’s cards on how much ad $ they are able to get out of each active user. In other words around the same $ they are charging to go ad free.
- quags 3y ago
  This is unrelated to cash and to comply with certain strict privacy laws in certain EU countries. At the start it won’t be offered everywhere.
figassis 3y ago
Does that include opting out of all tracking?

15 points by hubraumhugo 3y ago

I guess that's why things are ad supported. That is alot of money for something that provides pretty minimal value to my life. Spotify is cheaper which is interesting too.

throwaheyy 3y ago

Yuck. Not sure I’d pay money to find out what Meta’s definition of “ad” is. Sure the explicit ads may be gone but what about all the “promoted content” and chum-boxes? I consider those to be ads too. This is Meta we’re talking about. You can pay, but the ads will be back at some point, whether you like it or not.

mock-possum 3y ago

Create a problem, sell the solution

notRobot 3y ago

Oh hey, I was wondering about this on HN just a couple weeks ago: Ask HN: Why don't social media apps allow users to pay to remove ads? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37667947 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37667947

Gunax 3y ago
It seems as though we are in competition with the ad buyers. And it turns out, the ad buyers will usually pay more to show an ad, than the recipients will pay to not show it. I was once a member of a forum that ran on ads. Users asked and begged for an ad-free version for years. Finally, the owner added it. But everyone revolted: the cost to go ad-free (something loke $15 per year) was way too high! But it turns out that was far below what advertisers would pay. By his estimate, he was losing money every time someone bought the allegedly too-expensive ad free version. I think the short answer is that consumers are cheap.

great_psy 3y ago

Wow … does this mean Meta is running into cash problems ? Or just another way to make money ? Either way, by implementing this pricing scheme meta is showing it’s cards on how much ad $ they are able to get out of each active user. In other words around the same $ they are charging to go ad free.

quags 3y ago
This is unrelated to cash and to comply with certain strict privacy laws in certain EU countries. At the start it won’t be offered everywhere.

figassis 3y ago

Does that include opting out of all tracking?