Meta has announced that it will begin making businesses and influencers cover the 30 percent fee that Apple charges when they pay to promote their posts on the Facebook and Instagram iOS apps. In 2022, Apple updated its App Store policy to apply the 30 percent cut it takes from digital purchases to boosted posts, arguing that they were essentially in-app purchases. Meta is now passing that extra cost on to advertisers.
Starting later this month in the US and later this year in other markets, Apple will handle the billing for boosted posts through the apps. When the 30 percent fee kicks in, it will be pricier for advertisers to pay for boosted posts on the Instagram and Facebook iOS apps. They can avoid Apple’s fee by using the mobile web or desktop instead.
Meta says it’s in a tough spot because it has to either follow Apple’s rules or get rid of the boosted post feature from its 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,” the company wrote in a blog post.
For those who don’t mind paying extra to promote posts via the iOS apps, there will be a different payment process. They’ll need to add prepaid funds to their account and pay for boosted posts in advance of publishing them, instead of after the ads run. If advertisers add prepaid funds through the Facebook or Instagram iOS apps, they’ll be charged Apple’s 30 percent service fee. Alternatively, they can add funds to their Meta account on desktop or the mobile web.
Meta says that by doing this, advertisers can use the funds to boost posts “from any tool, including from the Instagram or Facebook iOS apps, without incurring fees.”
Boosted posts are a simple advertising tool that businesses can use to quickly promote content without having to set up a full campaign in Ads Manager. This feature is especially popular among small businesses, who might rely on boosted posts as their primary form of advertising on Facebook and Instagram.