Meta wants users in the European Union to download apps directly through Facebook ads, not Google and Apple’s app stores.
In Europe, Meta wants to allow users to download apps directly through Facebook ads, which will ultimately make Meta a competitor to Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
According to The Verge, this new type of advertising will be available to a number of developers on a trial basis later this year. Meta wants to enter such a market thanks to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is expected to take effect next spring. According to this law, Apple and Google must introduce alternative ways to download apps on their mobile platforms.
Is Meta going to the App Store and Google Play war?
Meta has told developers participating in the pilot that they will experience higher install rates by hosting their Android apps and allowing them to download directly from Facebook rather than the Play Store. In the initial launch of Meta’s proposed service, the company will not receive any share of in-app revenues, so developers can use the payment services of their choice.
Meta spokesperson Tom Chanick confirmed such a program, saying in a statement that Meta has always been interested in helping developers distribute their apps:
“We’ve always been interested in helping developers distribute their apps, and the new options add to the competition in this space. “Developers deserve more ways to easily get their apps to the people who want them.”
While it is possible to sideload apps in Android, Google has made it difficult to do this in various ways. However, Meta wants to go to Android instead of iOS first and test its service on Google’s mobile operating system.
Meta isn’t the only company looking to enter the app store market after the EU’s DMA rule comes into effect. Microsoft also said a few months ago that it hopes to launch an alternative app store for Android and iOS games in Europe next year.
