Why is no one talking about Meta’s unskippable ads on Instagram and Facebook?

Meta has recently added a new feature that forces users to watch ads for at least three seconds before scrolling through content.

If you use Meta platforms such as Instagram or Facebook in Europe and are privacy-conscious, you may have noticed an annoying new update to your feed – unskippable ads.

Being a cybersecurity journalist, I’ve learned a thing or two about privacy and big tech companies that use your data for personalized ads (cough, cough, Meta).

I’m also a Brit abroad living in the European Union, a union known for its stringent regulations on tech.

So, without thinking, a notification popped up on my Instagram feed, asking if I wanted to “subscribe without ads” or use the platform “free of charge with ads.”

For the cool price of €7.99 a month (roughly $9 a month), I could have access to my feed that isn’t riddled with ads. At this price, users can also opt out of their data being processed for ads.

Because I’m cheap and seem to have learned nothing, I chose the “free of charge” option. But now, I’m being presented with unskippable and deeply annoying ads.

However, if users opt for “personalized ads,” they might not see these ad breaks, perhaps because data is payment enough for Meta.

Aha, maybe I have learned something, but unfortunately, now, I’m paying the price.

As a cybersecurity whizz, I decided to choose the less personalized option, thinking I was being smart about my security-conscious choices.

But oh, was I wrong.

Now I’m being served ads that are, one, irrelevant, and two, irritating to watch, even for three seconds.

“Ads running on Stories and Feed on Facebook and Instagram may be eligible to be shown as ad breaks to people residing in the EU, the EEA, and Switzerland who have chosen less-personalized ads,” Meta says.

According to the tech giant, ad breaks are a new feature on Facebook and Instagram that are unskippable for several seconds.

“While browsing is paused, a countdown with the remaining time will appear. Once the pause has finished, the countdown disappears and the person can continue with their experience on Instagram or Facebook,” Meta said.

Could Meta face fines over pay-or-consent model?

It seems that Meta could be penalized in the EU for this new way of handling users’ data.

“Meta may face daily fines if limited changes that it has proposed to its pay-or-consent model fail to comply with an antitrust order issued in April, EU regulators warned,” said Reuters.

“The model gives Facebook and Instagram users who consent to be tracked a free service that is funded by advertising revenues. Alternatively, they can pay for an ad-free service,” Reuters continues.

The warning came after the European Commission, acting as the EU competition enforcer, presented the tech giant with a 200-million-euro ($234 million) fine.

This is because it believes Meta breached the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to stifle big tech’s dominance.