Ad rules used to cost social apps money. TikTok just turned the rules into a way to get paid.
The app started rolling out a paid ad-free plan in the UK this week at £3.99 a month, and the reason is a UK privacy law called GDPR.
TikTok began offering UK users 18 and over a plan that turns off ads and stops the app from using their data for ad targeting, with the rollout reaching all users in the coming months.
TikTok UK boss Kris Boge said the move gives users "greater control" over their feed, which is the polite way of saying the app can now make money from users who refuse to be tracked.
The plan is not new in design, since TikTok started testing it back in 2023, but it took three years to push it live in a real market.
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GDPR is the UK's data privacy law, and it stops apps from using personal data for ads unless the user agrees to it first.
That is a big problem for any app that makes its money from targeted ads, since a user who says no to tracking takes the ad money out the door with them.
A paid plan fixes that hole, with users who block tracking still paying TikTok in cash instead of data.
ByteDance, the parent of TikTok, does not break out UK numbers, but the UK is one of TikTok's biggest non-U.S. markets and ads are the engine that drives it.
A paid plan adds a second income line that does not rely on getting consent for data, and that mix is something every other ad-based app is going to study.
The bottom line: TikTok now has a way to get paid in markets where the local law makes ads harder to sell, which is the kind of cushion that gets noticed in boardrooms.
TikTok has not said if the £3.99 plan is coming to the U.S., and that is not a small detail.
The U.S. has weaker privacy rules than the UK, which means American users can be tracked for ads without paying for the privilege, giving TikTok less reason to give them a way out.
But the UK plan is a test run, and if British users pay £3.99 a month, the playbook follows the law.
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