{"id":8107,"date":"2019-03-02T15:23:25","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T15:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/ad-free-social-network-vero-to-charge-subscription-fees\/"},"modified":"2019-03-02T15:23:25","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T15:23:25","slug":"ad-free-social-network-vero-to-charge-subscription-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/ad-free-social-network-vero-to-charge-subscription-fees\/","title":{"rendered":"Ad-free social network Vero to charge subscription fees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"VeroImage copyright<\/span>
\n Vero<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n The social network has pledged to stay free of adverts
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vero, which launched as an ad-free alternative to other social networks, is to start charging for access. <\/p>\n

Fees will be levied on any new members who join the image-led social network, <\/p>\n

But Vero’s existing five million users will retain free membership in return for having helped build the network.<\/p>\n

Vero has so far been funded entirely by its founder, Saudi-born billionaire Ayman Hariri. And he said the subscription would cost the equivalent of \u201ca couple of cups of coffee a year\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fees would be charged from the middle of 2019 at the latest, Vero said.<\/p>\n

But it was committed to remaining ad-free and, unlike larger rivals, did not harvest user data and did basic data analytics only to ensure the site was working well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not against ads but in order to be competitive you need to gain so much [insight] into users, their personality, their wants and likes et cetera \u2013 it\u2019s a line we don\u2019t want to cross,\u201d Mr Hariri told BBC News.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very clear about our intention.\u201d <\/p>\n

High profile<\/h2>\n

Although it eschews ads, brands and influencers are able to have a presence on Vero and the site gets a 5% cut of any sales made directly via the platform.<\/p>\n

However, any brand using Vero is not able to actively promote its content to those who do not choose to follow it.<\/p>\n

In addition, other influencers cannot repost or share material directly into their own timeline, unless it is in the form of a screenshot.<\/p>\n

The network resembles Instagram, being heavily image-driven, and lets users share six categories of content: <\/p>\n