Apple allegedly attempted to accomplice with Facebook to induce a cut of its revenue

Apple and Facebook have been at conflict for a while now; at WWDC 2020, Apple stated that iOS would mandate that developers ask users to consent to cross-app advertising tracking. Facebook spent a significant portion of the following months criticizing Apple's plans and projecting revenue volatility as a result of the changes, however the feature was actually introduced in iOS 14.5 back in April 2021. Surprisingly, a recent Wall Street Journal report asserts that Facebook and Apple were negotiating a collaboration and revenue-sharing agreement prior to this whole thing happening.

The Journal said that Facebook and Apple were discussing a subscription service that would provide an ad-free version of the site. It might have been a very profitable deal as well, given that Apple takes a percent of all in-app sales, including subscriptions.

Apple getting a portion of "boosted posts," which essentially means paying to put a message in front of a wider audience, was another arrangement that was explored and turned out to be a source of disagreement. The Journal notes that small businesses frequently use boosted posts to reach a wider audience because Facebook has traditionally regarded them as a part of its advertising offering. It all came down to Apple's position that boosts should be treated as in-app purchases due to the company's 30 percent revenue cut. On the other hand, Facebook argued that those were promotional items that weren't subject to Apple's cut.

According to research company Insider Intelligence, 37% of iPhone users have chosen to allow companies to follow their activities across applications after the changes to user-tracking went into effect in 2021. Since the shift took effect, Facebook (now Meta) has experienced much slower revenue growth, and last quarter, Meta announced the first revenue decrease in the history of the company.

We're a long way from these talks, which apparently took place between 2016 and 2018. Apple is making every effort to present itself as a privacy protector, and Meta, well, Meta is busy attempting to create the Metaverse. However, advertising is now the only significant source of income for Meta, so the business will need to continue to adapt to a future where most consumers take advantage of iOS app tracking protection. (via: engadget)