U.S. corporation Meta is considering introducing paid Facebook and Instagram subscriptions with no ads for users in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal reports.
It is reported that this could be a response to regulatory scrutiny and a sign of how people perceive technology in the U.S. and Europe.
“Those who pay to subscribe to Facebook and Instagram won’t see ads on the apps. This could help Meta avoid privacy concerns and other scrutiny from EU regulators by giving users an alternative to the company’s advertising services, which rely on analyzing people’s data,” the report said.
According to the publication, Meta will also continue to offer ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram in the European Union. It is noted that it is still unclear how much the paid versions of the applications will cost and when the company will be able to release them.
The number of Ukrainian users of the Instagram social network in 2019 increased by 4.5%, to 11.5 million (about 11 million in 2018), the number of Facebook users by 7.7%, to 14 million. Such research data of the Ukrainian audience of social networks was released by PlusOne communications agency on its website.
According to the study, the main increase in Instagram audience was due to users 19-27 years old, and the increase in Facebook audience was mainly due to users aged 39 or more. Moreover, in almost all regions of Ukraine, except for Kharkiv region, Facebook is more popular than Instagram, and most users prefer the mobile version of the network rather than desktop.
“Ukraine ranks second in the world in the number of women registered in popular social networks. It ranks second in the world in the number of women who are Facebook users and is in the top ten countries in the number of Instagram users. In addition, the female audience of Facebook and Instagram outweighs the male in all age categories,” according to the report.
According to the PlusOne study, in October-December 2019, as well as January 2020, the Facebook Messenger audience in Ukraine increased by 1.5 million users, to 8.7 million.
At the same time, the report indicates that the total audience of Ukrainians available to advertisers through Facebook instruments is 19.5 million users.
Instagram, according to the study, achieved the highest penetration in Kyiv (45%), Odesa (36%) and Kharkiv (34%) regions. Whereas Facebook is the most popular in Kyiv (penetration is 55%), Lviv (44%), and Zakarpattia (40%) regions.
