Apple vs Meta, App Store fee for featured posts on social media

Apple has updated the rules of its own App Storeasking that developers use shopping in–app (giving the Apple a 30% cup) for i featured post on social media: a decision that seems like a challenge Facebook e Instagram from Meta. I “boost social” allow you to advertise your posts reaching a greater number of people, for a fee. A third of which will end up in the coffers of Cupertino.

Apple vs Meta: 30% fee for featured posts on social media like Facebook and Instagram

On Monday, without making too much noise, Apple changed its developer rules on iOS. If developers create a social platform available for iPhone, they will need to use Apple’s in-app purchase system for featured posts. In other words, developers will have to give Apple 30% of its income pfor these social advertising campaigns.

This is the first time Apple ‘tax’ advertising in an app on iOS and it seems like a direct attack on the largest social networks: Instagram and Facebook depend on this type of advertising. So much so that the spokesperson for Meta Tom Channinck writes to The Verge: “Apple continues to evolve its policies to increase its business while cutting that of the rest of the digital economy. Apple previously said it does not take a percentage of the developers’ advertising profits, and now he seems to have changed his mind. We remain committed to offering small businesses the opportunity to make profits in our apps ”.

A shot aimed at Meta?

The practice of offering the possibility for a fee to highlight a post exists in practically all social networks. But Twitter, TikTok and other services already use the in-app payment system Apple for these transitions. It seems that Meta (when it was still called Facebook) has resisted pressure from Apple to use in-app payments for years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

However, Meta is correct in saying that Apple has stated in the past of don’t take percentages from the advertising profits of the developers. This was stated by the head of the App Store Phil Schiller during the Apple vs Meta trial.

However, the impact for Facebook and Instagram shouldn’t be overly heavy. The new rules apply directly to Facebook and Instagram for featured posts. But non all’app Meta Ads Manager, which is used to manage advertising in a “professional” way, personalizing targets and timelines. Not being a social network in itself, it is currently exempt from the App Store fee. But Meta fears that this could change.

The Apple vs Meta clash continues

The featured posts are mainly used to advertise events organized by a group or a page on Facebook, to enhance the reach of a photograph on Instagram. Most of Meta’s social media advertisements go through Ads Manager (with many still preferring to use the browser on a PC when organizing a campaign). So the revenues should not plummet for Meta.

But on the other hand, Facebook and Instagram will earn less on posts highlighted by small businesses and influencers who want to find followers, even without using Meta Ads Manager. And this could push social media to cut this service.

This therefore seems above all a ‘rudeness’ among tech giants, with Meta having already claimed to have lost $ 10 billion in revenue due to App Tracking Transparency (ATT) on iPhone. This strike shouldn’t hurt that much, but it seems hard not to see it as an acceleration in hostilities between the two companies. And this time, user privacy has nothing to do with it: the clash is all between Apple and Meta.