Here’s how Apple infuriated Meta (Facebook) and Spotify
Spotify and Meta have raised controversy against Apple over alleged anti-competitive practices intended to strengthen Apple's business at the expense of their own
Clash of technological titans: Spotify and Meta (a company headed by Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) ready to do battle with Apple.
On Tuesday, the Swedish music streaming platform accused the Cupertino giant of hindering its fledgling audiobook business. "Apple continues to give itself unfair advantages at every step," Spotify said in a blog post , shortly before the publication of the quarterly.
Meanwhile, the iPhone maker updated its App Store guidelines on Monday with changes that impact Facebook's advertising activity once again.
Mark Zuckeberg's criticism of the company was immediate: "Apple continues to evolve its policies to grow its business while reducing others in the digital economy," a Meta spokesperson told The Verge .
This is just the latest controversy from companies like Meta who believe the Cupertino giant has too much power over mobile distribution and the ever-changing rules of Apple's App Store, which is the only way to install apps on an iPhone. "The industry backlash against Apple is on the rise as the tech giant pushes to make more money from its software services, such as the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple News, Apple TV + and Apple Pay," says Axios . In fact, the Apple store is estimated to generate around $ 24 billion in annual sales from the 30% commissions it collects alone.
Meanwhile, in addition to the big tech protests, national regulators are also moving. New laws in South Korea and the EU's Digital Markets Act will force Apple to allow rival in-app payment systems.
COMPETITION IN THE AUDIO BOOKS MARKET
Spotify launched its audiobook business just last month with 300,000 titles. The Swedish company is accusing Apple of "anti-competitive" behavior that is hindering the new business, Spotify wrote in a blog post.
Notably, the Swedish audio giant argues that Apple would not allow a button in its app to allow users to receive an email with specific details on how to buy a particular audiobook outside of the app, because that would constitute a violation of Apple's terms.
ALL THE ACCUSATIONS MADE BY SPOTIFY
Furthermore, Apple would not allow Spotify to include a URL to directly purchase an audiobook.
The company also said Apple has rejected its audiobook purchase system three times due to a violation of its rules. To comply, he had to hide the price of the audiobooks and make sales outside of the main app via an email link.
Spotify could also have sold its audiobooks through the App Store purchase system, but Apple would then cut 30%, putting Spotify's audiobooks at a significant disadvantage over Apple Books. “With the launch of our Audiobooks, Apple has once again demonstrated how blatant it is with the rules of the App Store, constantly shifting the stakes to disadvantage its competitors,” said Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify.
As for the Cupertino house in California, a spokesperson said Apple has nothing against Spotify's new audiobook service, but also stressed that Spotify cannot do so by circumventing the rules against providing web addresses that encourage customers. to make purchases outside your app.
WAITING FOR THE VERDICT OF THE EU ANTITRUST
And with the occasion, the Swedish company recalls the pending legal battle with Apple over music subscriptions.
In 2019, Spotify filed a complaint against Apple for anti-competitive practices in the EU. Specifically, the Swedish company accuses the tech giant of having created an "unsustainable" situation by imposing ever-changing rules and a "tax" of 30% for applications that compete with Apple Music. And in 2021, the European Commission concluded that the Cupertino-based company is violating European competition principles, abusing its market power. However, a final verdict has not yet been revealed. “Almost four years. That's how long it's been since Spotify filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission and we're still waiting for a decision, ”Ek said.
EVEN META (FACEBOOK MOTHER COMPANY) POLEMIC
But complaints against the bitten Apple giant were also raised this week by another tech giant.
Apple updated the App Store rules on Monday to require apps offered there to use its payment system for the sale of "boosted" posts, which are essentially advertisements promoted to the top of social media feeds for a price.
The App Store is the only gateway to digital content on the iPhone or iPad. That change means that Apple will be able to collect its 30% commission on that type of advertising on Facebook and Instagram, where all the money previously earned went to Meta because they used their own payment system.
A Meta spokesperson opposed the new App Store guidelines in a statement: "Apple continues to evolve its policies to grow its business while undermining others in the digital economy." “Apple previously claimed not to have taken a share of the developers' ad revenue and has now apparently changed its mind. We remain committed to offering small businesses easy ways to run ads and grow their businesses on our apps, ”Meta's spokesperson told CNBC .
And it's not the first time that Meta has criticized Apple's moves. Since last year Meta has conducted a massive lobbying campaign against changes to Apple's app tracking policies that make it harder for advertisers to collect user data for ad targeting.
THE DEFENSE OF APPLE
Apple, for its part, claims to be only more explicit about its existing policy. "For many years now, the App Store guidelines have been clear that selling digital goods and services within an app must use in-app purchase," said the Apple spokesperson. "Enhancement, which allows an individual or organization to pay to increase the reach of a post or profile, is a digital service, so obviously in-app purchase is required," he added.
THE COMMENT OF THE EXPERTS
"Apple has really doubled down on its role as Big Tech villain this week," Rick VanMeter, executive director of the Coalition for App Fairness, a group pushing for more inclusive rules than Apple and Google stores, told Axios . "The introduction of ads on the App Store confirms what we have always argued: Apple's anti-competitive practices are not intended to promote privacy, security or user experience, but rather to increase Apple's profits." .
Finally, Axios also remembers that when Epic Games sued Apple for its restrictive App Store in 2020, a judge ruled that Apple allowed Epic and other developers to talk to users about alternative payment mechanisms and connect to their own. transaction systems. Apple opposed the injunction and appealed the ruling, with a final decision expected no earlier than 2023.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/ecco-come-apple-ha-fatto-infuriare-meta-facebook-e-spotify/ on Fri, 28 Oct 2022 07:09:40 +0000.