Instead of incarcerating in-app purchases inside the apps, Facebook has decided to break them out of that namesake prison by allowing its desktop games to sell virtual goods straight from ads in the News Feed or sidebar, with the intention to bring this feature to its mobile app in the near future. The move towards mobile, however, could turn out to be challenging, as both iOS and Android forbid in-app purchases to happen outside of their respective app stores, so as to protect their usual 30 percent cut on mobile purchases. Essentially, these would be Facebook’s existing re-engagement ads re-framed for driving immediate purchases, and how they could move over the hurdles to bring this to mobile would be an interesting development to follow.
