According to information from the Wall Street Journal, Apple has long tried to convince Facebook to launch a paid subscription, to allow users to opt out of ads. It didn’t work out, largely because Apple wanted a commission.
Avant to attack Facebook’s businessand of cause meta to lose billions of dollars, Apple would have tried to have its share. In an article published on August 12, the Wall Street Journal reveals the existence of conversations between Apple et Meta between 2016 and 2018. Their goal: to find new ways to collaborate, since Apple was at the time particularly intrigued by the success of the social network on its App Store. Before becoming sworn enemies of Silicon Valley, the two groups would have tried to set up an alliance.
A Facebook without ads? Boosts for posts?
When you read the Wall Street Journal article, you wonder what Meta would have gained in this case. All the facts reported give the impression that Apple was mainly looking for a way to make money through Facebook, without really explaining how such a partnership between the two giants would have been beneficial to Mark Zuckerberg’s group. It must be said that Apple and Meta did not wish to comment, even if they do not deny anything.
In fact, what we learn is that Apple and Meta met regularly between 2016 and 2018 to discuss “common business”. Apple, as head of the App Store, would have made proposals to its counterpart. He would have suggested in particular to launch a paid subscription to Facebook, to remove the advertisements. Of course, he would then have taken 30% of this subscription, since Apple wanted us to subscribe to it from the App Store.
Another request from Apple: boosted publications. You may know that a page can pay to increase the visibility of a post. Facebook considers this to be , something Apple does not tax. Tim Cook’s group tried to change the social network’s mind, explaining that the publication boost should be a function accessible to all users, why not by in-app purchase. His goal was to earn a commission on it, which Meta didn’t want.
Ironically, three years after talks ended, Apple rolled out its App Tracking Transparency to end cross-app data collection. This new function has done a lot of damage to the advertisements of Facebook, which does not cease to speak ill of Apple. The whole thing is probably not directly linked (Apple has made a pro-privacy shift in the meantime), but Meta surely sees it differently.