Meta Is Considering an Ad-Free Subscription Service in the UK
March 23, 2025
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Meta is considering rolling out an ad-free subscription service in the UK, following a settlement with a UK-based campaigner.
The company didn’t provide a timeline for when the new feature could roll out but said it “will share further information in due course,” The Guardian reports.
Tanya O’Carroll launched a lawsuit against Meta in 2022, claiming it had breached UK data regulations because it failed to respect her right to demand that Facebook stop collecting and processing her data to target her with personalized adverts.
“This is an individual settlement, but I believe its ramifications extend far beyond me,” said O’Carroll. “The key factor is the UK data protection authority, which backed my case and has publicly stated that it will support people in the UK who wish to exercise their right to object to online targeted ads.”
Meta said it “fundamentally” disagreed with O’Carroll’s claims and took its obligations under the UK’s privacy law seriously.
This wouldn’t be the first time Meta launched an ad-free service. It rolled one out in the European Union in October 2023, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2023. The service costs roughly $10.50 per month for desktop users, but subscribing on an Android or iOS device costs up to almost $14 per month.
Some commentators have predicted that a US rollout of a comparable ad-free service is fairly unlikely. A Bloomberg report from 2023 found that an ad-free Meta subscription would cost roughly $240 per year if it were to make up the lost revenue from advertisers, meaning users who aren’t flush with disposable income might stick with the free option. Bloomberg estimated that Meta makes about $220 per user each year in the US and Canada through ad sales.
Other big tech giants have toyed with the idea of launching ad-free subscription models in recent years. It was widely reported that TikTok was internally testing an ad-free subscription option back in October 2023, but a rollout has yet to materialize at the time of writing.
Some research does indicate that the vast majority of users are still happy to put up with ads if it means a free experience. A 2021 survey by PrivacyHQ found that only 27.1% of users would be willing to pay up for an ad-free experience.
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