Meta Platforms to Offer Less Personalized Ads in Europe

(Reuters) – Meta Platforms plans to offer Instagram and Facebook (NASDAQ:META) users in Europe the option to receive "less personalized ads," as announced on Tuesday. This initiative aims to address increasing regulatory concerns from the EU.

The Menlo Park, California-based company stated that it is implementing these changes in response to demands from EU regulators.

Over the coming weeks, users in the EU who access the company's social media platforms for free with ads will be able to choose to see ads based on what Meta refers to as "context"—the content a user engages with during a specific session on these platforms.

These ads will also target users based on age, gender, and location, with some ads being unskippable for a few seconds. Additionally, Meta plans to reduce the price of ad-free subscriptions by around 40% for European users.

This initiative comes as European regulators ramp up efforts to regulate Big Tech's influence and create a level playing field for smaller companies, including through the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA) which came into effect earlier this year.

A spokesperson for the EU commented, "The new model introduced by Meta is under Meta's sole responsibility, and it is neither endorsed nor agreed with the Commission. It is premature to speculate about the impact on the pending non-compliance proceedings. Our objective is to bring Meta to full and effective compliance in this matter as soon as possible."

Recently, Europe's highest court ruled that Meta must limit the use of personal data collected from Facebook for targeted advertising, in favor of privacy activist Max Schrems.

Anu Talus, chair of the EU's privacy watchdog, the European Data Protection Board, commented, "While the solution still needs to be assessed, we welcome the fact that an important platform announces it will offer a new choice for free with less detailed profiling for advertising."

Meta's plans to introduce less personalized ads were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.