Facebook intends to force a face-off with Apple over its 30% in-app commission fee for purchases, suggesting Facebook that small businesses are struggling to get to the pandemic.
The big picture: Facebook has never gone public after Apple, a key strategic partner, this aggressively. Both companies see anti-trust control, which in Apple’s case is centered on the very compensation structure that Facebook is now attacking.
- Between the lines: Facebook is trying to position itself as friendlier for small businesses than Apple, which is also serving a lawsuit against Fortnite maker Epic Games over its commission and payment restrictions in-app.
What’s happening: Facebook said Friday that it will launch “Paid Online Events” for small businesses in 20 countries around the world to charge Facebook users to attend their classes, instruction and other events.
- The function can be useful for any small business or individual that offers a service, such as preacher, musician, yoga teacher or cooking instructor.
- Facebook asked Apple to let go of its 30% cut or Facebook and process event fees through Facebook Pay, in which case the event host will keep all the revenue they generate. Apple refused, according to Facebook.
- “Really what we are doing at the moment is to make sure that all the tech companies that can pay for this join us in supporting small businesses,” Fiji Simo, head of Facebook App, said in a press release on Friday.
From note: Hosts will be able to collect the full ticket price from Facebook users attending their online events via the web or Android. Facebook says it uses its own payment system on Android and lets developers keep all the money.
The finish line: While this is Facebook’s biggest attack on Apple, the two companies have been spared sooner.
- Apple spent months on iterations of Facebook’s new gaming app before finally releasing a watered-down version in the App Store, allowing users to stream and discuss games only, and not play in-app games.
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