Apple imposes fees on Meta sponsored contents. It had been rumored for a long time, but now it’s official: starting July 8, when you sponsor a post directly from the iOS Instagram app, Apple will charge a 30% fee on the budget you invest.
But let’s take a step back
How App Store fee work
Apple has always charged a fee for all purchases made within apps hosted in the App Store (which is quite high, considering that you practically have to drive traffic to the app yourself). Apple retains either 30% or 15% based on the company’s total revenue and makes monthly transfers of the amount due to the app developers.
This means that when you pay for an app, the company gets 30% less, from which the taxes of their country will be deducted. With the remaining part, they will have to cover development costs, past and future. Money that they will not receive immediately but will have to wait 30 days to be able to invest. Not exactly a walk in the park.
Now that you know this, we’re sure you’ll look differently at the price of the next app you’re thinking of buying!
How companies avoid Apple fee
To avoid these commissions, many brands use a very simple trick: they have removed the option to purchase directly in the app. The only way to use them, therefore, is to make the purchase via a browser.
A company that has adopted this method, which we all surely know, is Netflix. The only way to watch its content within the app is to have activated a subscription directly through the website. Without it, the app becomes practically unusable.
Thus, you understand how in this way the apps transform from potential entry points for new customers to mere additional tools for those who have already purchased a subscription. Shifting from an investment to acquire to a cost to satisfy customer needs.
This is for those who choose to adopt ways allowed by Apple. Then there are also other cases where the Cupertino company does not like it…
You might remember the battle Fortnite fought in 2020: when Epic Games introduced an alternative in-app payment system in its flagship game, allowing players to bypass iOS’s 30% fee. In response, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store and closed Epic Games’ developer account. Drastic.
Well, now that you understand the context and how seriously this matter is taken, let’s get back to our discussion…
Why do we have to pay Apple fee on Instagram?
Apple, aware of the significant business volume it was losing, has now mandated the handling of all transactions through In-App Purchase, even for Meta, which managed sponsorship payments through the app differently. The official reason is to ensure user privacy and security. Here’s an excerpt from Meta’s official statement, which you can read in full here:
“We are required to either comply with Apple’s guidelines, or remove boosted posts from our iOS apps. We do not want to remove the ability to boost posts, as this would hurt small businesses by making the feature less discoverable and potentially deprive them of a valuable way to promote their business. We are committed to offering businesses flexible and convenient options to help them navigate this change and maximize the results of their ad spend. As part of our efforts to do this, we have invested in alternative ways to boost posts.”
In response, Meta has complied with this decision, bringing bad news to all its users: it has passed the fee directly onto the final consumer, meaning us.
This means that we can continue to sponsor from the app on Instagram and Facebook by pressing that beautiful blue “promote” button, allowing us to complete the operation in three simple steps, but we will pay 30% more than before.
If we add that the CPM cost of ads on Meta is constantly increasing, this sudden and non-gradual change will be quite a blow.
How to avoid Apple fee on Instagram
On June 28, we received an email directly from Meta, which we report below, explaining how to bypass the Apple fee on Instagram.
On June 28, we received an email directly from Meta, which we report below, explaining how to bypass this fee. Simply sponsor your content by accessing Instagram from a browser instead of the app. The process might be a bit cumbersome, but if it means saving 30%, we think it’s worth the effort:
- Access your Instagram profile from a browser (desktop or mobile)
- Choose the content you want to sponsor
- Press the “promote” button and follow the steps, which will be identical to those you always found (and continue to find) in the app.
In case you’re wondering, nothing changes for sponsored posts from Business Suite, which remains without any fee.
Conclusion
With the introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in Europe, Apple has been forced to open its smartphones to third-party stores on its operating system, such as the Epic Games Store, which do not charge fee to app developers.
So why doesn’t Meta opt to move its apps to a store that doesn’t charge fees?
The answer lies in a power game. In response to the DMA, Apple revised contracts with app developers, offering two alternatives:
- Stay exclusively on the App Store, maintaining the usual 30% and 15% fee
- Or be present on multiple stores, with a reduced fee of 17% and 10%. However, if an app exceeds 1 million downloads, the company will have to pay €0.50 for each download
Meta thus found itself obliged to accept the current terms to avoid paying exorbitant amounts due to too many downloads.
The real question is: how many people will switch to a browser to sponsor, and how many will pay the 30% more because they are uninformed or too lazy?
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