As Apple prepares to implement application tracking transparency changes to iOS 14.5, CNBC spoke with several former Facebook employees to get details on why Facebook has been so strong against planned privacy updates.
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Starting this spring, Facebook and other app developers will need to obtain express permission to access the user’s ad identifier, or IDFA, which is used to track usage between apps and websites for ad targeting purposes. Facebook has campaigned heavily against transparency of app tracking, posting full-page newspaper ads and trying to position Apple as an enemy of small businesses.
One of Facebook’s main arguments is that Apple’s changes will hurt companies that use Facebook’s advertising tools, but Henry Love, a Facebook employee, said so. CNBC that for many companies, the change would not even be noticed.
Less ad tracking data will prevent Facebook and its customers from targeting your ads as effectively as possible, but many businesses may not need much data for effective ad targeting. A small coffee shop in Texas, for example, probably uses broad targeting categories, such as zip code and ad age range, which are data that Facebook can collect from its own applications without the need for IDFA. .
“If you talked to a restaurant owner anywhere and asked them what IDFA is, I don’t think any of them would know what that is,” Love said. “It’s affecting Facebook on a large scale. Not small business owners.”
Among the few “small business owners” who could feel the effects of the IDFA change are emerging venture capital-backed companies that have hired professionals with skills to target sniper-accurate users, Love said.
People who target mobile, web, and Facebook audience network with IDFA “are not small businesses,” with Love calling these businesses “sophisticated, VC-supported startups.”
Application tracking transparency will threaten Facebook’s post-impression conversion tracking, a metric that allows advertising companies to find out how many people saw an ad, didn’t click on it, but later made an ad-related purchase. . Retailers can record the information of the person who purchased an item and then share it with Facebook, with the ability to determine if that person’s IDFA matches a user who saw an ad for the purchased product.
CNBC claims that losing this information can greatly affect Facebook, because if advertisers can’t accurately measure the effectiveness of Instagram and Facebook ads, they could shift more of their budget to other apps and services.
The Facebook Audience Network, which provides ads on non-Facebook apps, will also be affected because it uses IDFA data to choose the best ads to show users based on Facebook data. If users choose not to share IDFA, Facebook’s ad personalization efforts will be futile outside of their own apps.
Facebook plans to ask users for permission to access IDFA and is testing the wording that suggests tracking will provide a better advertising experience. Facebook test messages encourage customers to allow the use of IDFA to “support companies that rely on ads to reach customers.”