Facebook continues newspaper attack over Apple ad tracking privacy program
Facebook expects to lose 60% of its income following Apple's privacy changes
Following both one newspaper ad and a blog post, Facebook has now taken out a second full-page advert doubling down on its criticisms of Apple's privacy features. It again claims that the forthcoming ad tracking prevention in iOS 14 will damage small businesses.
Facebook's protest is against how Apple is shortly to require users to give permission for ad tracking, and do so app by app. That requirement was going to be part of the initial iOS 14 release, but Apple delayed it until early 2021.
As highlighted with Apple's new privacy or "nutrition" labels, Facebook gathers a great deal of data about users from its app. Facebook now says it expects to see a 60% drop in its income because of the privacy changes, having previously estimated 50%.
In a statement to AppleInsider, Apple responded to the attack ads. The company said companies like Facebook are welcome to continue tracking users, so long as those users have a choice in the matter.
"We believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users. Users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites -- and they should have the choice to allow that or not," Apple said. "App Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 does not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users and creating targeted advertising, it simply requires they give users a choice."
The text of the ad has been seen by AppleInsider and is as follows. All emphasis is Facebook's.
Apple plans to roll out a forced software update that will change the internet as we know it -- for the worse.Take your favorite cooking sites or sports blogs. Most are free because they show advertisements.
Apple's change will limit their ability to run personalized ads. To make ends meet, many will have to start charging you subscription fees or adding more in-app purchases, making the internet much more expensive and reducing high-quality free content.
Beyond hurting apps and websites, many in the small business community say this change will be devastating for them too, at a time when they face enormous challenges. They need to be able to effectively reach the people most interested in their products and services to grow.
Forty-four percent of small to medium businesses started or increased their usage of personalized ads on social media during the pandemic, according to a new Deloitte study. Without personalized ads, Facebook data shows that the average small business advertiser stands to see a cut of over 60% in their sales for every dollar they spend.
Small businesses deserve to be heard. We're standing up to Apple for our small business customers and our communities.
Comments
It’s a scam industry as far as I’m concerned. It’s time to grant that the emperor has no clothes!
I agree though that will be hard to convince a generation used to get a lot “for free” on the internet that the we are far better off paying directly for stuff! Ultimately, that’s is in our better interests as consumers, and better for producers too, without ad money kibitzing everything they do!
...now about that iCloud, Photos auto tagging, and on it goes...
It's a breathtakingly desperate and a rather brainless campaign at a time when a vast majority users (and governments) WANT better controls for identity and privacy, and more transparency around the access and use of data.
They are quite literally saying to its users: You should have no choice whether we track and collect data about you!
If it so valuable to end users, they will opt in. Apple is not removing that choice.
Perhaps Facebook needs to finally rethink what its value is, and charge for a version of the app where there is no tracking. The problem is they likely monetize you and your data so many times over that you would need to pay $500 for the app....
This type of campaign reinforces the very need for the thing Apple is implementing. Thank you Mark!
I believe any businesses that has good leadership will figure out new source of revenue when their old business model doesn’t work anymore. This action from fb tells me they don’t have new ideas. So they behave like petulant child and cry their eyes out to get sympathy to get what they want.
I avoid watching live television because I can't stand commercials.
I used to enjoy Facebook until it became a chronologically-disorganized cesspool of re-shares, advertisements, and misinformation.
YouTube has become an exercise in frustration as videos are constantly interrupted with commercials. I don't get enough value from YouTube to pay to remove ads.
Even though Facebook is the primary conduit through which I interact with my friends and family (particularly during the pandemic), I'll delete my account and the app before I pay for it.
This is what the platform will provide. As long as Apple adheres to the same rules and requirements, there is nothing but benefit here.
Advertising wasn't ALWAYS tagged specifically to your ass, and businesses large and small did fine.
I really wish celebrities and wealthy people who made their money by some other means wouldn’t see themselves as more important than the average Joe. They made their money acting, building products, etc., not being all-wise gurus.
Give it a rest Zuckerberg. You’ve made enough money to support thousands of people for their entire lifetimes. That doesn’t make you smarter and you don’t need to claim intellectual superiority to try and keep Facebook alive. It’s run its course. Let it die.