Facebook may refuse 30% commission and change the rules of the game in the entire market

Yesterday, important news for developers was provided in the amendments to the Facebook IPO application. It seems that the company plans to reduce 30% of the commission that it charges from the sale of applications.

Here is what was announced yesterday:

We receive a commission of up to 30% of the cost of applications purchased by users from the developers of our Platform using our Payment infrastructure. In the future, we will expand Payments for non-gaming applications, and the percentage that we receive from developers may vary.

Previously, such information did not appear in the company's IPO applications or amendments to them. In addition, over the past three years, the company's position with regard to 30% participation in profits has always been absolutely unshakable. The company also reports that for each Credits unit worth 10 cents, a commission of 3 cents is imposed, i.e. 30 percent.

If Facebook reduces the 30% commission on music or multimedia applications, this will allow the company to break away from other platforms. Today, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google are struggling to become the dominant provider of digital content on the web and mobile.

Recall how things are with the commission of other competing companies: Apple receives a fixed commission of the same 30% of sales on its iOS; Google - 30% for Android, but only 5% for games on Google+; Amazon has an unusual order in which the company controls the pricing of applications, and retains either only 30% of the amount for which applications are sold, or 80% of the price set by the developer (whichever is less).

It should be noted that all these schemes do not divide applications into games, news applications, encyclopedias or any other classes and are the same for all similar products. If Facebook introduces a policy of different commissions, then it will change the pricing of applications in accordance with their type. And this is something new.

Compare this option with Apple's policy, which does not change the commission of 30% for any of its partners, even those whose net income is lower than others (for example, developers of music and news applications who have to pay large royalties). This approach of Apple annoys brands such as The Financial Times, which managed to outsmart the iTunes App store and Apple’s commission by developing a web-based tablet application written in HTML5.

In fact, Apple is now unable to do any serious maneuvers. The only defense of the company from antitrust cases by the Ministry of Justice regarding the formation of the price of e-books is the same single 30% tax on the profit from content. Two days ago, in an interesting Wall Street Journal column, Apple's Senior Vice President Eddie Kew told Gordon Krovits, the former publisher of the Wall Street Journal, “I think you don’t understand. We cannot relate to newspapers or magazines in any way other than how we relate to FarmVille. ”

Apparently, Facebook believes that newspapers and magazines should be treated differently than Zynga games. Facebook Board members such as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Washington Post CEO Don Graham are likely two-handedly for this option, especially if they plan to sell their Facebook subscriptions in the future.

Lower fees will help Facebook get more content partners. If a company increases the variety of its paid digital content, it will be able to persuade more users to pay for it. According to Facebook, out of 845 million active users per month, only 15 million users paid with Credits for any virtual purchases in 2011.

Experiments on using Credits outside of games have already been conducted. A number of musicians, including Widespread Panic and David Gray, gave their fans the opportunity to pay Credits for watching an online broadcast of their concerts. And David Guetta even sold his tracks for Credits. However, this is only the beginning.

Of course, the issue of commission on content sales is a sensitive issue. How to determine a “fair” commission for the sale of music content? What about selling the digital subscription to The Washington Post? But what if you have a game that sells songs “inside”?

If Facebook really refuses a single commission, they will launch a real wave in the sale of digital content on the network.