It then shattered Facebook’s revenue when it launched App tracking transparency.
Apple is believed to have asked Meta to launch an ad-free subscription alternative to Facebook for iOS.
The Wall Street Journal reports(Opens in an entirely new tab) it was reported that Apple “suggested several possible arrangements that would give Meta iPhone maker a portion of the Facebook’s profits.” However, that was before that the partnership that existed between Apple as well as Meta was made more difficult by the vast privacy-related modifications introduced in iOS 14.5.
These changes, including the introduction of App Tracking Transparency that demands iOS developers to inquire from users whether their information can be used for marketing purposes for 2021–are believed to be the cause of Meta’s first decline(Opens in fresh window) in revenue for the quarter earlier in the year.
It’s difficult not to see Apple’s proposal is being the Silicon Valley equivalent of a protection racket. Meta could decide to launch an ad-free version Facebook as a trade-off for the cost of a monthly subscription and a part of which Apple will take over and observe its revenue from advertising decrease.
The companies, neither Apple or Meta immediately replied to requests for comments.
The Journal says the following “an Apple spokeswoman said there is no link between talks of partnerships or the changes in ad-tracking which were later put into place,” However, she added that Apple has also had similar discussions with other developers.
The talks are said to have taken place between 2016 and 2018, a few years prior to the time that App Tracking Transparency was launched and before the company’s revenue fell in the very first instance since the company went publicly in the year 2012. Perhaps splitting the revenue from an advertising-free Facebook subscription is beginning to appear like a better deal.
