Meta Faces Backlash Over VR App Charges; Deliveroo Introduces Ads on Delivery App to Bolster Revenue

by Hannah Dillon on 29th Jun 2022 in News

In today's ExchangeWire news digest; Meta faces backlash over charges on VR apps; Deliveroo turns to advertisers to boost revenue; and floundering consumer confidence delivers a blow to US tech stocks.

Meta in hot water over VR app charges

The Financial Times reports developers are frustrated that Meta has imposed fees on its VR app store, replicating the chargers on smartphone app stores. For example, The Quest Store, which hosts apps and games for Meta’s popular Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, takes a 30% cut from digital purchases and charges fees between 15% and 30% on subscriptions.

Meta, who has pledged USD$10bn ($8.174bn) a year into developing the metaverse over the next decade, however, defended its policies, claiming that they serve to “foster choice and competition in the VR ecosystem”. The company added, “our efforts have produced a material financial return for developers: as we announced earlier this year, over $1bn has been spent on games and apps in the Meta Quest Store”.

Deliveroo rolls out delivery app ads

Food delivery company Deliveroo is rolling out advertisements on its website and app. The move follows a troubling few months for the London-based company, which has seen its shares sink by over 56% as investors have moved away from fast-growing, money-losing firms.

Set to launch in July, the Deliveroo Media and Ecommerce platform will sell ad space on the company’s order-tracker page. While Deliveroo already sells a small amount of ad space to restaurants and businesses it works with, the company’s move extends advertising opportunities to consumer brands, following in the footsteps of peers such as Jokr and Delivery Hero SE, in the hopes that this will boost profitability.

US tech stocks knocked by souring consumer confidence

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dipped by 3% on Tuesday (28th June), bringing its total losses for the year so far to over 28%. The drop resulted from a sharp reaction from investors unnerved by a report that consumer confidence is continuing to diminish. Published by the Conference Board, a New York-based economic research organisation, the confidence survey revealed that consumers believe prices will continue to increase despite efforts from the Federal Reserve to hinder inflation.

The report also found that consumers hold a dismal outlook on the state of the US economy and labour market, with confidence at its lowest in almost a decade.