Facebook ads in Europe will let you download apps directly

Meta plans to allow people in Europe to directly download apps through Facebook ads, which will allow the company to eventually compete with the Google and Apple app stores.

As it became known, a new type of advertising will be launched as a pilot project with several Android application developers at the end of this year. Meta sees an opportunity to try this out thanks to a new regulation in the EU called the Digital Markets Act (DMA), due to come into effect next spring. He sees Apple and Google as “gatekeepers” and demands that they open up their mobile platforms to alternative methods for downloading apps.

Android technically already allows third-party downloads, although Google makes it more difficult by tying app billing and licensing to the Play Store, and issuing scary warnings when someone tries to download an Android app from an open source. However, Meta clearly thinks it’s safer to try out their test first on Android rather than Apple’s iOS.

Meta suggests allowing Facebook users to download apps directly without pushing them to the Play Store, as developers will presumably get a higher conversion of ads to app installs. At least initially, Meta does not plan to take a share of the revenue from the apps participating in the pilot, so developers can use any billing system.

Meta spokesman Tom Channick confirmed the plan: “We’ve always been interested in helping developers get their apps out there, and new options will add competition in this space. Developers deserve more ways to easily get their apps to the people who need them.”

Meta is not alone in wanting to become a mobile app distributor when the EU DMA goes into effect. In March, Microsoft said it hoped to launch an alternative app store for iOS and Android games in Europe next year.