Consent, Pay or Settle: Meta’s Struggle for Staying Profitable in the European Union

Meta’s shift from the dual option of the “consent-or-pay” model to the triple option of personalized ads, subscription with no ads, and less personalized ads, highlights the challenges of balancing consumer privacy and profitability in digital markets. The company historically relied on surveillance advertising across platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, tracking users’ behaviour to create targeted ads. This highly lucrative model helped Meta amass almost US$132 billion in advertising revenue in 2023. Meta’s consent-or-pay model embodies the conflict between data monetization and consumer privacy and autonomy, a matter being investigated by the European Commission, the outcome of which will affect the regulation of Big Tech globally.