In the world Facebook's Secret Experiment: Are users willing to pay for a subscription?

The social network is currently looking into the possibility of a paid version without ads and advertisements following the scandal of violating the privacy of users.

 Protest against Facebook on the background of Mark Zuckerberg's hearing in CongressAARON P. BERNSTEIN / Reuters

Facebook conducted market research in recent weeks to determine whether users would be willing to pay for a social network version without ads and ads. In addition, sources familiar with the issue said, Facebook has tested whether such a version of subscribers will attract more users.Facebook has done research on the subject in the past, but now there is momentum and support for the company to create such a version - against the background of the privacy breach scandal that Facebook has been dealing with recently. However, there are still no ready-to-launch programs and this initiative may not be promoted, according to people familiar with the issue. Facebook declined to comment.Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, has long considered this possibility not as a replacement for Facebook's business model but as a factor that will prevent users from abandoning it, with nearly $ 41 billion in revenue from sales of targeted advertisements According to research conducted by the company in recent years, users will not respond positively to the subscription plan: if Facebook demands payment for a service that has always been free, they will see it as greedy. 

heryl Sandberg: If Facebook users want to avoid using their information - they will pay

Now, however, Facebook believes there has been a change in consumer attitudes. The company is facing a crisis of confidence after one of the Facebook application developers obtained information from millions of users and transferred it to Cambridge Analytics Analytics, a company that worked with political parties, including Trump's campaign in 2016. The affair caused concern that Facebook uses customer information in ways they did not expect and can not understand.The social network has conducted extensive testing to test its businesses and identify ways to tighten security on user information to restore consumer confidence and improve their network experience. The company has agreed to make far-reaching changes,  such as rating news sites according to their reliability and rating of user responses.In addition, the company's managers are faced with the difficult questions of employees wondering whether the social network should at all allow the publication of political ads. Cheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, said last month that the social network should continue to publish political ads to promote freedom of speech.Zuckerberg and Sandberg spent most of the conference call with analysts after the release of the first quarter of 2018 to explain why a business model that focuses on advertising revenue should be supported, arguing that this model makes it possible to reach a broader audience than any other socioeconomic status. "We are considering many options, including subscribers," said Sandberg, who said during a congressional hearing that he was open to the possibility of subscription service, "There will always be a free version of Facebook," Zuckerberg said.

Source: https://www.themarker.com/wallstreet/1.6054865 / Bloomberg