Meta Exploring Paid Facebook, Instagram Features

Meta is creating a group to identify and build “possible paid features” for Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.

That’s according to a report Thursday (Sept. 1) by The Verge, which cited an internal memo sent last week to Meta employees.

The group, dubbed “New Monetization Experiences,” will be headed by Pratiti Raychoudhury, who was previously Meta’s head of research.

Speaking to The Verge, Meta’s VP of monetization, John Hegeman, said the company is still committed to expanding its ads business, and that it had no plans to let people pay to shut off ads in its apps.

“I think we do see opportunities to build new types of products, features, and experiences that people would be willing to pay for and be excited to pay for,” he said, but declined to elaborate on paid features that are being considered.

See also: Meta Reportedly Developing ‘Basic Ads’ That Use Much Less Data Targeting

The report noted that the project is being set up after Meta’s ad business was hamstrung when Apple changed the ad tracking on iOS, as well as a wider contraction in digital ad spending.

Meta has said Apple’s tracking changes could cost it as much as $10 billion this year. It’s part of the reason the company is reportedly also looking into new ads that don’t use advanced targeting, and thus would need and use less user data.

These ads — known as Basic Ads — would not use anonymized personal information and would be aimed at advertisers trying to promote their brand to a broad audience.

These ads would reportedly be measured by metrics like engagement and video views, which could mean that an effective ad results in less cost for exposure, with more user interaction.