Meta plans to allow EU residents to download apps through Facebook ads

Meta plans to allow EU residents to download apps through Facebook ads, which will eventually allow the company to compete with Google and Apple’s app stores. This is reported by The Verge.

The new ad type is set to launch as a pilot project with several Android app developers later this year. Meta sees an opportunity to try this thanks to a new EU regulation called the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The document is expected to enter into force next spring. It demands that Apple and Google open up their mobile platforms to alternative methods of downloading apps.

Meta is offering pilot developers to host their Android apps and allow Facebook users to download them directly without being redirected to the Play Store, so they can see higher conversion rates for their app install ads. At least initially, Meta doesn’t plan to keep a portion of the revenue from participating apps, so developers participating in the project can use whatever billing systems they want.

“We’ve always been interested in helping developers distribute their apps, and new options would add more competition in this space. Developers deserve more ways to easily get their apps to the people that want them,” confirmed Meta’s Tom Channick.

We will remind that in the spring Microsoft announced that it hopes to launch an alternative application store for games on iOS and Android in Europe next year.