The Real Reason Facebook Won't Launch an Ad-Free Subscription -- Yet
The idea of a subscription-based version of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) isn't new. Various hoaxes have gone viral over the years, and the company has clearly thought about offering such a service, particularly over the past couple of years as the social networking giant has found itself embroiled in an endless string of controversies and scandals around data privacy. CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Congress last April that there "will always be a version of Facebook that is free," implying that one day perhaps there would be a version that isn't. COO Sheryl Sandberg had said just days prior to Zuckerberg's testimony that allowing users to opt out of targeted advertising would be "a paid product."
Implementing an ad-free version of Facebook sounds like it should be a simple task for a company as large as Facebook, but the reality is much more complex.
A conversation with Zuck
Zuckerberg sat down with Harvard professor Jonathan Zittrain for a nearly two-hour conversation earlier this week to discuss a wide range of topics. The notion of a subscription-based ad-free tier came up yet again, but this time His Zuckness gave the most detailed explanation to date of why Facebook hasn't introduced such a service. The most important aspect to acknowledge is the difference between ads and the data that Facebook collects to target those ads. Getting rid of one doesn't necessarily mean getting rid of the other.
Here's Zuck:
The chief executive then brought up the "Clear History" feature that Facebook is working on, which has been delayed quite a bit, as the project has been more technically challenging than the company initially thought it would be. Clear History allows users to dissociate browsing data and Facebook history from their profiles by anonymizing the data. The privacy tool gives users a bit more control over their data, which Zuckerberg considers a "prerequisite" for any type of subscription product.
"As a principled matter, we are not going to just offer a control like that to people who can pay," Zuck said. "If we're going to give controls over data use, we're going to do that for everyone in the community."
Still, Zuckerberg doesn't rule out the possibility of an ad-free subscription service in the future, at least once those controls are in place:
Zuck then rightly points out that many ads do provide value to users, such as when a local business offers a promotion. More than ever before, people are increasingly aware of the privacy costs associated with free online services. Facebook generated roughly $110 in advertising revenue per North American user last year, so the company would have to charge them around $9.15 per month to offset that monetization. (Other geographies generate much less.)
While some fraction of users would happily pay to remove ads, Facebook's data collection engine would keep chugging along. For now, until more robust data controls are put in place, the only way to keep Facebook from vacuuming up all your data is to stop using its services.
10 stocks we like better than FacebookWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Facebook wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
*Stock Advisor returns as of January 31, 2019
Randi Zuckerberg, a former Director of Market Development and Spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Evan Niu, CFA owns shares of Facebook. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.