It pays to know: Important PSA for Facebook and Instagram Advertisers: From next week, any ad you purchase using an iOS device will cost you 30% more, which goes direct to Apple's pocket - or you buy directly from facebook.com or instagram.com using a desktop instead.

The product first rolled it out in February to U.S. advertisers but is now targeting all advertisers across all regions. To enable boosting on the web but without Apple's extra charges, Meta has introduced new processes that claim to offer all the same functionality present on iOS devices. And if you would not mind paying that extra fee, then you will have to go to a desktop PC rather than quickly boosting in-stream.

Meta's Director of Privacy & Fairness Policy Pedro Pavón declares Apple's new fee structure for developers it is enforcing in other regions since 1 July an anti-competitive move he has been highly critical of.

The 30% Apple tax enables them to charge more and makes it impossible for others to compete on price. All this does not seem to be a good outcome for users or fair dealing with competitors. And I'm not alone. The regulators around the world are siding with app developers and consumers who will benefit from more choice and lower fees.

Pavón also notes that the EU investigators have already indicted Apple for the change. In addition, a federal judge of the U.S. criticized that Apple did not present its fee structure when it was served under a court order.
For now, though, at least, Apple will charge advertisers more when they purchase their ads in-app.

But perhaps the simplest solution is to wait till you can access your desktop PC, thereby avoiding the added expense, though that may not always be possible for those who need to be mobile while working. Which is what Apple is banking on, and it does seem like Apple is tipping the scales in its own favor, at least somewhat.

But Apple believes that without its own platform, these companies would have no access to their audiences and is thus entitled to charge for this capacity.

Apple has faced push back from many businesses, the most significant being that by Epic Games maker of Fortnite, which took Apple to court about its app taxes. The consequence of that was that Apple agreed to new concessions that now permit app makers selling to U.S. customers to include links and buttons inside their apps which re-direct users out to an external website, where they can input their credit card information. But Apple also employs pop-up security warnings when it does so, and it also includes a requirement that Apple Pay must be presented as an option on those pages.

Meta can seemingly do the same, but it's not exactly a solution, and it only applies in the U.S. at this point.

Essentially, if you are using your device to buy Facebook and IG ads, you'll want to revise your approach.