Meta is building “potential paid features” for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, according to an internal letter acquired by The Verge.
Meta’s new subsidiary will build paid services for its three billion-user social apps. Meta’s advertisements business was impacted by Apple’s iOS ad tracking modifications and a downturn in digital ad expenditure. Pratiti Raychoudhury, Meta’s chief of research, will lead New Monetization Experiences.
Meta’s VP of monetization, John Hegeman, says that the company committed to growing its ads business and has no intentions to let users pay to remove ads. “We see potential to build new types of products, features, and experiences,” he said. He wouldn’t discuss possible premium features.
The Verge first reported the development.
Meta’s revenue comes nearly exclusively from adverts, but the social media behemoth hasn’t made charging users a priority until recently. Hegeman dismissed premium features becoming a big part of the business in the near term, but said, “If there are chances to build new value and meaningful revenue lines, that’s definitely going to be appealing.”
Long-term, Meta anticipates premium features becoming increasingly important, he said. I think it can make a big difference in five years.
Meta’s New Monetization Experiences group will be led by the company’s former head of research, Pratiti Raychoudhury, while Meta’s VP of monetization, John Hegeman, will oversee it. Hegeman said the corporation sees an opportunity to offer new products and experiences that customers will pay for.
He didn’t say paywalled features will be a huge success, but the objective remains on “important revenue lines.” He suggested these elements could change Meta’s operations in five years. There’s no information on Meta’s advertising business or if Instagram and Facebook would have fewer adverts (don’t hold your breath).
Meta has paywalls like other social media companies. Twitter has Super Follows, Telegram is freemium, and Snapchat charges. Meta took too long to organise a monetization group.