Apple held a secret meeting to propose a ``ad-free paid plan'' to Facebook

When you install an app on your iPhone, you may see the option 'Allow the app to track your activity?' when you first launch the app. By selecting Do Not Track from this option, you can disable 'user tracking for displaying advertisements', but the addition of the Do Not Track setting has caused many companies, including Meta (formerly Facebook), to reduce their sales. It has been reported that Facebook has developed into a full-scale confrontation over user privacy, such as campaigning against Apple since the announcement of the refusal function. However, it became clear that Apple and Facebook were discussing to improve sales before announcing the introduction of the new tracking do not set.

The Secret Talks That Could Have Prevented the Apple vs. Facebook War - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-the-apple-vs-facebook-privacy-fight-11660317376

Apple has enabled a strong privacy policy ' App Tracking Transparency (ATT) ' from ' iOS 14.5 ' released in April 2021. By enabling ATT, companies that track users to display advertisements are required to prepare the following 'setting items to ask whether tracking is possible' in the app.

As mentioned above, ATT makes it difficult for app development companies to track user behavior, making it difficult to deliver targeted advertisements optimized for each user. For this reason, since the announcement of ATT, Facebook has argued that ``Apple's attempts will undermine the business model of Facebook and other free apps that are based on advertising'' and ``Various Internet experiences will be charged.'' and blamed Apple.

However, despite Facebook's criticism campaign, ATT was activated, and it was reported that over 70% of users chose 'Do Not Track'. After that, in 2022, Dave Weiner, CFO of Meta, said, ``Annual sales (due to ATT) will decrease by $10 billion (about 1.3 trillion yen),'' and Meta was hit hard. became clear. In addition, small and medium-sized enterprises that were marketing using Facebook's targeting ads also reported a significant decrease in profits , revealing that the impact of ATT is very wide-ranging.

``Advertising Facebook away'' accelerates, ``loser of advertising war'' and big letter-GIGAZINE

As mentioned above, Facebook has been hit hard by Apple's introduction of ATT, but in fact, between 2016 and 2018, before the introduction of ATT, Apple and Facebook had a forum for discussion The Wall Street Journal was reported by According to reports, Apple proposed to Facebook to 'add a paid ad-free plan'. Apple collects a portion of the sales of apps distributed on the App Store as a commission, and if Facebook adds a paid plan, Apple will receive a portion of the sales of the paid plan as `` part of in-app billing '' can be obtained.

Also, Facebook and Instagram have a paid feature called `` Post Promotion '' that increases the frequency of post display, but ``Post Promotion'' is not considered an in-app purchase and Apple may get a portion of the sales. you can't. Therefore, Apple requested that 'post promotion' be considered an in-app purchase.

An Apple spokesperson said, 'We work with developers of all sizes to help them grow their businesses. Our app rules apply fairly to all developers.' ) has nothing to do with the discussion on partnerships and the implementation of ATT,' denying the relationship between discussions with Facebook and the introduction of ATT. A Meta spokesperson also told The Wall Street Journal, ``We have made changes in the past five years that allow companies of all sizes to grow while protecting user data. Our decisions are based on our beliefs, not on other companies.'

Since the introduction of ATT, Apple has expanded the display area of its own advertisements, and advertisements are now displayed in genuine apps such as the App Store and News. Overseas media Bloomberg speculates that Apple will expand its advertising business, stating that ``advertisement display will be expanded to Apple's genuine map apps in the future.''

Advertisement display location expanded in iPhone app store - GIGAZINE