Facebook already made it clear that it isn\u2019t happy about Apple\u2019s upcoming restrictions on app tracking and ad targeting, but the publicity battle entered a new phase today.
\nOver the summer, Apple announced that beginning in iOS 14, developers will have to ask users for permission in order to use their IDFA identifiers for ad targeting. On one level, it\u2019s simply giving users a choice, but because they\u2019ll have to opt-in to participate, the assumption is that we\u2019ll see a dramatic reduction in app tracking and targeting.
\nThe actual change was delayed until early next year, but in the meantime Facebook suggested that this might\u00a0mean the end of its Audience Network\u00a0(which uses Facebook data to target ads on other websites and apps) on iOS.<\/p>\n
Then, this morning, Facebook placed print ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post declaring that it\u2019s \u201cstanding up to Apple for small businesses everywhere,\u201d and it published a blog post and website making the same argument.
\nWhile it\u2019s easy to see all of this as an attempt to put a more sympathetic face on a PR campaign that\u2019s really just protecting Facebook\u2019s ad business, Dan Levy \u2014 the company\u2019s vice president of ads and business products \u2014 got on a call with reporters today to argue otherwise.<\/p>\n
Image Credits: Facebook<\/p>\n
For one thing, he said that with its \u201cdiversified\u201d advertising business, Facebook won\u2019t feel the impact as keenly as small businesses, particularly since it already acknowledged potential ad targeting challenges in its most recent earnings report.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve already been factoring this into our expectations for the business,\u201d he said.
\nIn contrast, Levy said small businesses rely on targeting in order to run efficient advertising campaigns \u2014 and because they\u2019ve got small budgets, they need that efficiency. He predicted that if Apple moves forward with its plans, \u201cSmall businesses will struggle to stay afloat and many aspiring entrepreneurs may never get off the ground.\u201d
\nLevy was joined by two small business owners, Monique Wilsondebriano of Charleston Gourmet Burger Company\u00a0in South Carolina and Hrag Kalebjian of Henry\u2019s House of Coffee in San Francisco. Kalebjian said that while business in the coffee shop is down 40% year-over-year, his online sales have tripled, and he credited targeted Facebook campaigns for allowing him to tell personal stories about his family\u2019s love for Armenian coffee.
\nWilsondebriano, meanwhile, said that when she and her husband Chevalo started a business selling their homemade burger marinade, \u201cwe did not have the option to run radio ads or TV ads, we just didn\u2019t have a budget for that\u201d \u2014 and so they turned to Facebook and Instagram. With the marinade now available in 50 states and 17 countries, Wilsondebriano said, \u201cIt makes me sad that if this update happens, so many small businesses won\u2019t get that same opportunity that Cheval and I had.\u201d
\nLevy also suggested that Apple\u2019s bottom line might benefit from the changes \u2014 if developers make less money on ads from Facebook and other platforms, they may need to rely more on subscriptions or in-app transactions (with Apple collecting its much-discussed fee), and they might turn to Apple\u2019s own targeted advertising platform.
\nA number of ad industry groups have also taken issue with Apple\u2019s policy, with SVP Craig Federighi fighting back in a speech criticizing what he called \u201coutlandish\u201d and \u201cfalse\u201d claims from the adtech industry. In that speech, Federighi said Apple\u2019s App Tracking Transparency feature is designed \u201cto empower our users to decide when or if they want to allow an app to track them in a way that could be shared across other companies\u2019 apps or websites.\u201d
\nUpdate: Apple sent out the following statement.
\nWe 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 \u2014 and they should have the choice to allow that or not. 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.<\/p>\n
Facebook isn\u2019t happy about Apple\u2019s upcoming ad tracking restrictions<\/p>\n