Is Apple 'Twisting The Knife' In Meta's Ad Business? New App Store Guidelines Could Further Inflame Rivalry

Apple Inc.'s AAPL latest App Store review guideline updates may have a detrimental effect on Meta Platforms Inc.'s META advertisement revenue. 

What Happened: On Monday, following the release of iOS 16.1, Apple updated its App Store Review Guidelines. 

The highlight was Apple's approach to managing advertising, which states that in-app purchases are not required for apps made solely to enable marketers to buy and manage advertising campaigns across media types. In contrast, digital purchases such as "boosts" for posts in a social media app must use in-app purchases.

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Expert Eric Seufert deciphered the updates saying, "Apple has (updated) its App Store guidelines to require that social media post "boosts" be purchased as IAPs, entitling Apple to 30% of that advertising revenue. This is new as of iOS 16.1, which was released today."

The company is "twisting the knife in Meta's ad business," said social media commentator Matt Navarra. 

Why It's Important: This isn't the first time Apple's update and features are likely to cost Meta’s platform's Facebook losses in terms of advertisement revenue. Earlier this year, an analysis revealed that Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature is set to cost Facebook $12.8 billion in 2022, according to Forbes. 

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