Meta has announced another significant shift in its personalized advertising model for Facebook and Instagram users in the EU. Starting soon, users will have three options: subscribing for an ad-free experience, consenting to “less personalized” ads, or enduring unskippable, full-screen ads.
The “less personalized” ads will use a minimal dataset, including age, location, and gender, but will avoid the broader user profiling that Meta previously employed.
This change comes after years of regulatory scrutiny and legal challenges over Meta’s ad practices, which failed to comply with GDPR consent rules. Regulators and privacy advocates criticized Meta’s earlier pay-or-consent model, with the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) ruling it as non-compliant.
Meta claims these changes align with EU regulations and emphasize user control, but privacy advocates remain skeptical. Critics, including privacy watchdog NOYB, have raised concerns that Meta’s new approach still limits user choice and could rely on manipulative practices to obtain consent.
Max Schrems, Chair of NOYB, described the plan as “less illegal” but still problematic, noting that users cannot fully opt out of using their data, and unskippable ads might coerce users into consent.
While the EDPB acknowledged some improvements in Meta’s latest iteration, doubts linger about whether it will pass regulatory scrutiny. Meta insists the changes are part of its ongoing commitment to complying with evolving EU laws.