TikTok has confirmed it is testing an ad-free monthly subscription in “a single English-speaking market outside the USA”.
The UK is by far the largest English-speaking market for TikTok, outstripping Australia and Canada; however, TikTok refused to confirm to TechCrunch, the website that broke the news, where the trial is take place.
The screenshots published by TechCrunch showed the new service would cost $4.99 a month. However, this fee would probably not enable users to avoid things like brand sponsorships and partnerships from influencers using the platform.
The Chinese-owned firm said there is no guarantee the ad-free subscription will ever be offered globally and that the test was at “a small scale”.
The move would be a huge step for a company that made almost $9.98 billion in advertising revenue in 2022.
TikTok isn’t the only major tech firm considering an ad-free version. Reports have circulated that Meta may be launching ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram. The Wall Street Journal reported that European users who choose to opt out would be charged roughly £8.68 to skip ads on desktop and £11 a month to do so on mobile.
In addition, Elon Musk’s X – the company formerly known as Twitter – has flirted with the idea of launching an ad-free version in the past, although nothing has come of the plans as yet, the company claims the premium version of X comes with 50 per cent less ads.
Snapchat is an example of a TikTok competitor that has rolled out an ad-free subscription service successfully.
The group launched Snapchat+ in June 2022, offering users a way to avoid the vast majority of ads on its platform for just over £3 per month, and it has reportedly attracted about 4 million subscribers since launch.
