Well planned is probably different. Even at Meta, employees are surprised at the timing a message from the boss and founder. Mainly because it is one of great importance. After all, it is about a significant change in the business model.
In any case, Mark Zuckerberg let it be known at the weekend – initially curiously only via the Instagram function “Broadcast Channel” that can be used in the USA – that the group was testing a new paid subscription. This is called “Meta Verified”. It will start in New Zealand and Australia later this week, and according to Zuckerberg it will be rolled out in “several countries”. According to reports, the two markets – which are small by meta standards – are just a trial gallop before the subscription model is rolled out in the USA and, probably in a few months, comes to Europe.
iOS and Android: More expensive subscription
So if you want to verify your Facebook and Instagram account in the future and have the blue tick behind the account, you have to pay. Initially, the subscription costs $11.99 per month. If you complete the purchase via the iOS or Android app, you even put 14.99 US dollars on the table for the blue tick every month. Pricing policy, which is also an expression of a tension between the tech giants. Meta blames Apple’s rigid data protection policy for declining advertising revenues and therefore never tires of referring to Apple’s high commissions. After all, a whopping 30 percent of in-app purchases go to Cupertino.
Now back to Mark Zuckerberg and his lately pressured meta. In principle, the group promises three things for the new paid subscriptions: better protection against account forgery, direct access to customer service – even to a “real person” – and more “visibility and reach”.
Which also conjures up critical voices. The loudest: Meta pours old wine into new bottles – and demands money for it. Because it was already possible to have accounts “verified”. At least if you were running an account that generated public interest. That is, what users are actively looking for, or whose content can be found in other media.
The measure is of course also an expression of growing pressure on the tech giants. After years of gigantic growth, advertising revenues have recently fallen. At Meta, for example, sales fell in 2022 for the first time since the 2012 IPO. The decline hit the short message service Twitter particularly hard. This has come under pressure, especially since the takeover by Tesla manager Elon Musk. Since then, more than 500 companies are said to have dropped out as advertising partners. This in turn led to a 40 percent reduction in daily sales in January compared to the same time last year, US media reported. Twitter and Musk’s reaction? Guessed correctly. With Twitter Blue there is now a paid premium subscription. And the blue hook.
