Facebook & Instagram Users in Europe Can Get Less Personalized Ads

Users of Facebook and Instagram in Europe will be able to see less personalized ads if they do not wish to pay for an ad-free subscription, according to social media giant Meta, in response to Brussels' worries about privacy and digital competition.

Meta Platforms has been offering an ad-free subscription option to the European Union for nearly a year in order to comply with the continent's tough data privacy regulations. 

Still, authorities have accused the company of giving people a misleading choice.

Facebook & Instagram ads in Europe may get less personal

In a blog post, the company stated that while people would continue to be able to select between the subscription and existing free versions, free users will be given an additional choice to see less personalized digital ads over the next few weeks.

This implies that ads will be targeted at users based solely on what they see during their current session on Facebook or Instagram for the previous two hours, as well as minimum personal information such as age, location, gender, and how they interact with ads.

Data from a user's prior time spent on Facebook or Instagram, which is commonly used to target a person with customized ads precisely, will not be used.

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