When Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced that iOS 14’s privacy-first updates would include an opt-in for iPhone users regarding apps collecting their unique device code or IDFA, all hell broke loose for Facebook.
The social media giant had no prior idea they are about to face such a curveball and thus quickly moved to warn their developers about the same.
Now, when the dust has finally settled, and Apple has set it a stone that the updates, albeit with some delays, will indeed be rolling out soon, Mark Zuckerberg is strongly speaking out against the move.
Yesterday, i.e. on Thursday, Facebook CEO Zuckerberg finally made a public statement about iPhone curtailing the ability of advertisers to track users’ activity. He has a view that the particular change would hurt several small businesses all over the world and therefore, in turn, hurt the global economy at large.
This statement from Zuckerberg came during Facebook’s quarterly earnings call wherein he mentioned to his investors that Apple’s decision would be having a massive negative effect on businesses all over the world and thus hinder the economic recovery in the upcoming year and beyond that.
Apple, in their latest version of its mobile operating system iOS 14, decided to punish all apps which collect the IDFA code or ID for Advertisers from users by including an opt-in which allows its users to make a choice for themselves. This change which set ripple effects for various online advertisers in motion was neither notified to Facebook nor discussed with them, and that is currently the main bone of contention.
Facebook, in their earlier blog post, wrote that Apple should have consulted with the advertising industry before moving forward with their decision as that would let advertisers buy more time to prepare for the change.
While delivering his statement during Facebook’s earnings call, Zuckerberg argued that personalised advertising is a huge boon for small businesses. It helps them grow their customers with minimal costs. However, Apple’s sudden and unpredictable move has now thawed this edge.
Following Apple’s announcements about the iOS 14, the social media giant came forward and acknowledged that a significant portion of their entire Audience Network would be rendered useless.
The Facebook Audience Network allows Facebook advertisers to target users and deliver personalised advertisements beyond the social media giant’s family of apps onto various other apps and websites.
But now that Apple has pushed out its iOS version 14 updates, Facebook predicts that there will be a 50% drop in its iOS revenue. The company also mentioned that Apple’s decision might lead them to stop the further development of the Audience Network for iOS altogether as well.
According to Zuckerberg, as Apple has delayed its decision to roll out all the changes at once, the impact of the same might not be felt so strongly on their ad revenue collection in Q4 2020. But, it will indeed show in Q1 2021.
The 36-year-old Facebook CEO, on Thursday, called for increased regulation of the entire tech industry and reiterated his previous stance of encouraging much needed fair regulatory laws.
Now, it remains to be seen if Facebook can come up with any alternatives to tackle with Apple’s privacy measures. What new propositions the social media giant must be cooking up to cater to their advertisers is anybody’s guess right now. We will keep you updated on all future developments. Until then, stay tuned.
