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TIKTOK TESTING OUT ADVERT-FREE MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION

Published
3 October
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Image source, Getty Images
By Liv McMahon
Technology team


TikTok is testing a new monthly subscription which would get rid of adverts on
the video sharing site.

The BBC understands the Chinese firm is trying out the service in an
English-speaking market outside the US, but has declined to comment on exactly
where.

The subscription is being tested at $4.99 (£4.13).

Meanwhile, Meta is reportedly mulling ad-free subscriptions for people in the EU
to navigate the bloc's advertising rules.

TikTok currently displays personalised adverts for all users over the age of 18.

TechCrunch, the news website, reported that the test is small scale and there is
no certainty that a subscription will be rolled-out globally.



YouTube and X, formerly Twitter, are among sites already offering fewer or no
ads for a monthly fee.

TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, does not share its financial results
publicly, but reportedly earned $85bn (£70bn) in revenue in 2022.

Research firm Insider Intelligence estimates TikTok earned $9.98bn in
advertising revenue last year.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram,
is looking to charge users in Europe who opt out of personalised adverts on its
platforms.

Users would be charged roughly €10 (£8.68) a month to use Instagram or Facebook
without personalised adverts on desktop, and €13 a month on mobile, Meta has
reportedly told EU regulators.

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC: "Meta believes in the value of free services
which are supported by personalised ads. However, we continue to explore options
to ensure we comply with evolving regulatory requirements. We have nothing
further to share at this time."



The firm said in August, following an EU ruling, that it intended to change its
terms and get consent from users to display adverts based on their personal
data.

It was fined €390m by the Irish Data Protection Commission in January.

The regulator said Facebook and Instagram could not "force consent" by saying
consumers have to accept how their data is used, or leave the platform.

Brooke Erin Duffy, associate professor at Cornell University's department of
communication, said that younger audiences accustomed to using social platforms
may be resistant to paying for an advert-free experience.

"From the outset, users have been socialised to think of these platforms as
"free" services," she said. "So it seems unlikely that young users, in
particular, will opt for the paid, ad-free model".

Maddie Hill, a 22-year-old Orkney Islands-based influencer and contributor to
The Social, a BBC Scotland digital platform, said she finds adverts on TikTok
less intrusive than those on others.



"It's not necessarily something that bothers me too much when I'm scrolling
through my For You page," she said. "They're short, you can usually scroll past
them so they don't overly impact the viewing experience."

Maddie, who has800,000 followers on TikTok, added: "Whenever I've used social
media I've always been aware of ads and ads are always coming up, so I think
there's an element that like I'm used to it."


RELATED TOPICS

 * Social media
 * TikTok
 * Meta
 * Advertising


MORE ON THIS STORY

 * Meta announces AI chatbots with 'personality'
   
   Published
   27 September
   
   

 * TikTok fined €345m over children's data privacy
   
   Published
   15 September
   
   

 * EU safety laws start to bite for big tech
   
   Published
   25 August
   
   

 * Facebook owner fined over use of data
   
   Published
   4 January
   
   

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