Meta nearly launched ad-free Facebook in 2018
Meta’s board of directors considered introducing ad-free Facebook subscriptions in response to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal in 2018, according to a slide obtained by The Verge presented during the FTC v. Meta trial. The proposal was part of the company’s efforts to address the backlash over its data handling practices.
The suggested “Paid monthly subscription offering” aimed to allow users to access Facebook without ads, directly tackling the notion that users are the product when they don’t pay for a service. The goal was to provide an advertising ‘opt out’ and change the narrative around Meta’s data-driven business model.
Instead of implementing the subscription, Meta focused on reducing the amount of data available to outside developers. However, the company did eventually launch an ad-free subscription option in the European Union in 2023. The “pay or consent” model has faced criticism from regulators, prompting Meta to cut the subscription price by 40 percent last November.