Meta will launch a paid subscription service that allows Facebook and Instagram users to verify their accounts for up to $14.99 per month, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Sunday.
The new feature, called Meta-Verification, allows users to “get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts impersonating you, and have direct access to customer support,” according to Zuckerberg’s Facebook post. .
It costs $11.99 for web access and $14.99 per month for Apple’s iOS operating system and Android. Meta Verified is expected to roll out first in Australia and New Zealand this week, the post said.
Meta revenue has taken a hit due to Apple’s privacy changes in 2021. This change limited our ability to track your Internet activity, which is an important data source for targeted advertising. Meta said in February last year that Apple’s changes would cause him to lose more than $10 billion in advertising revenue in 2022, about 8% of total revenue in 2021.
Anshu Sharma, founder of data privacy firm Skyflow, said the subscription model is the latest signal that social media users’ “devil’s trade in data privacy for free apps” is coming to an end. I said yes.
Meta has been forced to make significant cost cuts, including its biggest announcement Staff reduction — Approximately 11,000, or 13% of the workforce.
Meta’s New Subscription Service Is Similar To Elon Musk’s Plans To Launch twitter blueThis will allow users to verify Twitter profiles for about $8 a month, after purchasing the platform for $44 billion last year. The full Twitter Blue rollout, which first began in November, was delayed after it was exploited by accounts impersonating businesses and celebrities.
Zuckerberg said Meta Verified will allow users to verify their accounts using their government ID. A person close to the company clarified that government ID is required to authenticate accounts, and that subscriptions include monitoring account impersonation.
They added that meta-verified users also have access to more features to “increase visibility and reach,” such as visibility in searches and recommendations.
Messaging group Snap launched its own subscription model called Snapchat Plus late last year. It costs $3.99/month and gives users exclusive access to new features like extended story expiration and custom notification sounds.
At Meta’s annual earnings call this month, Zuckerberg will do more to manage Meta’s costs, as he said it will be a “year of efficiency” for the social media group that owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. I laid out a plan.
The company’s share price has been battered over the past year by a slowing economy that has forced marketers to cut spending on apps, the growing challenges of TikTok, and the impact of Apple’s privacy changes on advertising revenue.
But its stock price sharply increased The company posted more than a quarter of its sales this month after announcing better-than-expected sales and a new $40 billion share buyback.
Additional reporting by Patrick Magee
