Apple recently updated its App Store guidelines and the changes caused Facebook owner Meta to react.
In what appears to be a continuation of their previous tussles, Apple and Meta are at it again because of the former's recently implemented changes to its App Store guidelines.
As per CNBC, Apple's new App Store guidelines permit companies like Meta to offer apps so that people can buy and manage advertising campaigns in dedicated apps, like Facebook and Instagram, without paying through Apple's own payment system.
The catch here is that Apple considers buying ads in a social media app to be digital purchases, and will take a 30% cut from such purchases.
Meta reacted to Apple's latest guidelines and accused the Cupertino-based tech giant of enacting policies that are detrimental to other entities while being beneficial only to itself.
"Apple continues to evolve its policies to grow their own business while undercutting others in the digital economy," a spokesperson from the Facebook owner said with regards to the new policies.
The Cupertino tech giant said that prior to enacting the new guideline, it considered social boosts, or ads, in apps installed in Apple devices as digital transactions that should be done using the company's in-app purchases. It explained that this has been in practice for some time now.
"For many years now, the App Store guidelines have been clear that the sale of digital goods and services within an app must use In-App Purchase," a spokesman from Apple told CNBC.
"Boosting, which allows an individual or organization to pay to increase the reach of a post or profile, is a digital service - so of course In-App Purchase is required," he continued.
The spokesman added that this practice has "always been the case" and that there are many apps that have followed this policy "successfully."
Some apps that followed this policy include Twitter, which lists boosted posts for $9.99, and TikTok, which sells coins to promote posts. These purchases are made using in-app purchases.
Meta, however, asserts that Apple's guidelines reflect a change in practices. It claimed that the Cupertino tech giant "previously said" it didn't take a cut from ad revenues, "but has now apparently changed its mind."
But despite the fact that Apple doesn't take a cut for every Facebook or Instagram ad, Meta still thinks it is targeted by the Cupertino tech giant's new policies, The Verge noted.
Furthermore, while Meta's biggest advertisers won't feel the effects of Apple's latest App Store guidelines, users who purchase one-off boosts in Facebook and Instagram will because they will need to pay more to have their posts reach more people, ad industry analyst Eric Seufert said.
