From the BZ editorial team
The Facebook group Meta is experimenting with a subscription model after the decline in advertising revenue. The name: “Meta Verified”.
The idea: Facebook and Instagram users should be able to get verified accounts for a monthly fee. To do this, they must have their identity verified by presenting passport documents. In addition to the usual tick of a verified account, the service should also include direct access to customer support and protection against copycat profiles.
Why the tick? This allows other users to see that the account is actually operated and maintained by the person specified.
The subscription will first be introduced in Australia and New Zealand, founder and boss Mark Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook on Sunday. Other countries are to follow “soon”. The price will be $11.99 if you subscribe online. It will be even more expensive for iPhone users: $14.99 per month. Because with App Store purchases via the iPhone, Apple initially takes a fee of 30 percent for subscriptions that were completed on the iPhone.
Only users over the age of 18 should be able to subscribe to the service. There will be no changes for accounts on Facebook and Instagram that are already verified. It is initially not available for companies.
In any case, Facebook parent company Meta sees itself forced to experiment with new sources of income. Sales had fallen by four percent in the past quarter. And: In addition to the general cooling off of the online advertising market, Facebook and Instagram continue to make Apple’s measures to protect privacy on the iPhone.
App developers must ask users for explicit permission if they want to track their behavior across different applications and services in order to personalize advertising. With many refusing to do so, online advertising models went haywire.
Role model Twitter
Twitter is also hoping for more subscription revenue under new owner Elon Musk. In addition to a blue tick in the profile, which previously only existed with personal verification, paying users are currently given the opportunity to publish longer videos.
Another benefit announced for the future is that tweets from subscribers will be placed more prominently. In addition, they should only see half as much advertising. The Twitter Blue subscription costs eight euros in Europe for a monthly subscription. If you get it for a year, 84 euros will be due.