Facebook has released the second round of full-page ads in two days looking for Apple not to post any privacy updates or anything like that.
The problem is an iOS update that will require users to have explicit and optional consent to allow apps to track them with the Apple ID for Advertisers (IDFA), a “anonymous identifier” unique to each iOS device which allows companies like Facebook as well as advertisers, to track user activities in applications. IDFA tracking is currently disabled, meaning companies get this data by default. Facebook’s concern is that naturally and for good reason, when chosen, users won’t want to let advertisers spy. through half the shit they do to theirs phones because they don’t really care about seeing personalized ads and everything related to behavior tracking drags them.
This could seriously reduce Facebook’s ability to do things like control post-installation actions, target ads, and model user behavior in iOS apps. Apple has also moved earlier to implement new ones anti-tracking functions in Safari, the stock browser for iOS devices, which limits the ability of advertisers to track users on the web.
Facebook has offered two lines of defense: that Apple is abusing its position as the sole arbiter of what happens on iOS devices, and that the measure will be devastating for the poor mom and pop companies that trust it. Apple may be a braggart, anti-competitive harasser, but since Facebook is too, it’s not clear why anyone would take the company seriously as an advocate for antitrust or small business. Regardless, Facebook has been totally aggressive attacking Apple for the coming soon requirements by expensive, full page ads in the largest newspapers in the country. Here’s the ad that appeared Wednesday in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post:
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And here’s Thursday’s edition of the ad, almost identical:
Full-page ads are clearly meant to provoke some sort of backlash against Apple from small businesses, which can be a bit stretched.
Facebook wrote in the ads that the “forced software update” (as if Apple were forcing users to install iOS 14 at gunpoint) will cause “your favorite cooking sites or sports blogs” to have severe restrictions on “your ability to run personalized ads” (that’s the point.) Facebook argued that this would mean many free sites or apps will have to start to charge users for subscriptions or purchases from the app.
Facebook also claimed that 44% of small businesses have increased their use of personalized advertising during the new coronavirus pandemic, citing a study for the consulting firm Deloitte. He also emphasized, in bold, a statistic that without personalized advertising, “an average small business advertiser should see a reduction of more than 60% in their sales for every dollar they spend.”
In a blog post, Facebook explained that the 60% figure is really more than “long-term”:
Our studies show that without personalized ads based on their own data, small businesses could see a more than 60% reduction in website sales derived from ads. We don’t expect the proposed changes to iOS 14 to cause a total loss of customization, but rather a step in that direction in the long run.
Facebook cited this statistic as the source of its own internal research with few details. Facebook offered just two explanatory sentences and said it compared the data of advertisers who used the type of data it says Apple wants to cut against those who don’t:
To understand the impact on small and medium-sized businesses, we compared the aggregate results of ad campaigns to the Facebook app family that used advertisers’ own data to optimize purchases on advertisers’ websites compared to advertisers’ results. ‘use only the data of the advertising platform. . The research analysis includes more than 25,000 global advertising campaigns where advertisers optimized purchases made in 2019.
When asked for more information about the statistic, a Facebook spokesperson redirected Gizmodo to the blog post. Facebook did not immediately respond to a follow-up question about which apps involved testing or why they chose the specific subset of ads.
Apple has fired back at Facebook essentially accusing the company of being shit.
Earlier this year, it delayed the launch of the anti-tracing feature until 2021 to give developers more time to adjust. When he was criticized by privacy groups, he did has sent a letter to organizations hinting that Facebook was one of the developers that needed the most time to make the transition and accused its executives of seeking to “collect as much data as possible through first- and third-party products to develop and obtain revenue with detailed profiles of its users, and this does not take into account the privacy of users. it continues to expand to include more products. “