Facebook has been conducting a market research to find out if people would be more interested in a paid version of social network that would be free of adverts for subscribers.
Within the past few weeks, the idea has become popular in the company and even though this is not the first time Facebook has considered this idea but Facebook has initiated market research.The company has refused to comment on the possibility of a subscription based ad-free version.
In the recent past, the two highest-ranking executives at the company have hinted that a subscription option might be offered by Facebook.
During the first-quarter earnings call that took place last week, Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Facebook stated “We certainly thought about lots of other forms of monetization including subscriptions, and we’ll always continue to consider everything”
Zuckerberg has already said in Congressional testimony that there will always be a version of Facebook that is free. This comment suggests that in the future, there might be other versions of Facebook.
This is a common reason people often give for leaving the social media platform so, Zuckerberg has been considering an ad free option since long.
The company virtually made $42 billion revenue last year by selling ads targeted with user data. As per internal research of the company, consumers would not be interested in a paid version as they will perceive it as Facebook asking for money.
One thing remains clear here that the subscription-based Facebook option won’t replace the free version of Facebook. Before you feel the idea is surely going to be executes, Bloomberg sources suggest there is a lot of internal debate regarding this version. Facebook executives also feel that user sentiments might be changing and they might not be willing to pay just for an ad-free version.
