On Wednesday Facebook made it clear that it isn't a fan of Apple's upcoming version of iOS, the software the powers the iPhone. For once, however, this isn't a dispute over App Store commissions or Apple's controversial guidelines for reviewing new apps. Instead, in iOS 14, developers who want to track a user's activity across different apps or sites will have to ask permission.
One way that happens is by using Apple's Identifier for Advertisers, or IDFA, which is a string of numbers that app services can use to associate activity with a particular device, and, as a result, person. In iOS 14, not only can users choose to turn off the IDFA, if they leave it on, apps will have to request permission to use it.
Beyond the IDFA, however, iOS 14 generally requires apps to request permission for any kind of tracking. That's bad news for Facebook (and Google, for that matter) since a large part of its business model is based on tracking pretty much everything we do online. What's more, Facebook would rather users not think about that reality very often. The last thing Facebook wants to do is have to ask users every time they open the app if they have permission to track them.
The irony is that Facebook's biggest concern is that Apple is doing too good a job at protecting privacy--arguably a good thing for users. It's true that, when given a chance, some consumers will tap the button that blocks the ability for Facebook to track their activity. Very likely most will--that wouldn't be a surprise to me at all.
It's also true that when that happens, it's much harder (though not entirely impossible) to target those consumers with ads based on what they do online. Facebook argues that that makes it harder for businesses to reach the customers most likely to buy their products and services with relevant ads. While that's true, the difference is that the argument Facebook is making is purely about business. Apple is making a moral case.
To that end, Facebook is saying that iOS could result in a 50 percent drop in revenue for what is known as Audience Network. That's Facebook's advertising product that serves up ads within apps based on a user's activity elsewhere. Audience Network is only a small part of the $70 billion in advertising revenue the company rakes in, but it isn't hard to see why Facebook would be concerned.
We expect these changes will disproportionately affect Audience Network given its heavy dependence on app advertising. Like all ad networks on iOS 14, advertiser ability to accurately target and measure their campaigns on Audience Network will be impacted, and as a result publishers should expect their ability to effectively monetize on Audience Network to decrease. Ultimately, despite our best efforts, Apple's updates may render Audience Network so ineffective on iOS 14 that it may not make sense to offer it on iOS 14.
The real issue isn't the loss in revenue that might result from people opting out of tracking. The real issue is that Apple has made it clear that it intends to pull back the curtain on the extent to which companies like Facebook are collecting and monetizing everything we do online.
That isn't new, Apple has made a series of changes to both iOS and macOS to highlight when websites and apps are trying to use your personal information. In iOS 13, Apple introduced "Sign in with Apple," as an alternative to the single sign-on options from Facebook and Google. In fact, the company required developers to offer Sign in With Apple if they offered the other options.
The difference is that Apple's version allows users to hide their information, creating a randomized email login. It also prevents the other tech giants from knowing which apps you sign in to on your iPhone.
Apple's recent versions of Safari also prevent third-party cookies by default. Those are the little pieces of code that websites leave in your browser that allow them to track you across the internet, which are used by Facebook to build a profile on you.
Facebook's extremely profitable business model is most vulnerable when people start to realize exactly how much information the company collects, and the ways it monetizes that information. That, ultimately, is what bothers Facebook about iOS 14--it makes it clear exactly what's happening with your privacy, and gives you the ability to opt-out.
Make no mistake, this will have an impact on small businesses that advertise on Facebook. If that's you, then you should certainly be considering what that impact will be, and how it fits into your overall digital marketing strategy. Also, to be candid, if your business is based on a strategy that most people will opt out of when given the chance, it might be time to reconsider whether that's the best strategy.
iOS 14: Facebook’s Apple Nightmare Keeps Getting Worse
Soon-to-launch iOS 14 is a momentous leap for iPhone privacy, but this week Facebook confirmed its Apple nightmare was even worse than previously thought.
Soon to launch iOS 14 is a momentous leap for iPhone privacy, but this week Facebook confirmed its ... [+] Apple nightmare was even worse than previously thought.
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It’s nearly September, which means the launch of Apple’s iOS 14 is almost here. The revamped version of Apple’s iOS operating system signals a momentous leap for iPhone privacy, but it’s also Facebook’s worst nightmare, the data-hungry social network confirmed this week.
In a blog titled “preparing our partners for iOS 14” Facebook admitted that Apple’s new privacy features would impact itself and its partners heavily. The problems for Facebook and its advertisers stem from the fact that iOS 14 signals the end of collecting iPhone identifiers for advertisers (IDFA), due to Apple’s strong measures to prevent services from tracking you across apps.
MORE FROM FORBESiOS 14: A Security And Privacy Game-Changer For All iPhone UsersBy Kate O'Flaherty iOS 14 makes tracking opt-in only
From iOS 14, Apple requires people to actively opt in to ad tracking. Before being tracked you will receive a notification saying, “x would like permission to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies. Your data will be used to deliver personalized ads to you.”
Apple will allow you to choose between “Allow Tracking” or “Ask App Not To Track.”
Facebook says this will have a negative impact on businesses’ ability to market themselves and monetize through ads. In response, it announced, it will no longer collect the IDFA on its own apps on iOS 14 devices.
Apple and Facebook’s relationship goes from bad to worse
Earlier this month, I detailed how Facebook has met with its key advertising customers, gaming companies, to try and ease their concerns.
These iOS 14 changes affect Facebook’s Audience Network—its in-app advertising network for mobile apps. In a scathing attack on rival Apple, Facebook says: “Ultimately, despite our best efforts, Apple’s updates may render Audience Network so ineffective on iOS 14 that it may not make sense to offer it on iOS 14.”
Apple and Facebook’s relationship has gone from bad to worse. Facebook continued its attack on Apple this week, telling Reuters that Apple rejected its attempt to tell users the iPhone maker would take a 30% cut of sales in a new online events feature. This apparently forced Facebook to remove the message to get the tool to users.
And a BuzzFeed article details how Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a swing at Apple this week, calling the iPhone maker's app store monopolistic and harmful to customers during a companywide meeting.
Apple’s iOS 14 serves a new wave of privacy minded users
Apple knows its users care about security and privacy, and this was reflected in all its marketing last year. In an era of mass data collection, “what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone,” is an attractive proposition.
And iOS 14 takes this attitude to the max, cutting down on ad tracking, and adding numerous security and privacy features. For example, for location privacy, Apple is offering new technology that gives you better control over whether you reveal your precise location to apps and services.
Jake Moore cybersecurity specialist at ESET says Facebook “will soon have to think about different revenue streams in preparation for a new wave of privacy-minded users.”
“Indirectly, Apple has dramatically shaken up Facebook’s business model with a new focus on privacy,” Moore explains. “It has created a knock on effect to Facebook and other businesses around the world who rely on collecting and sharing data—often unbeknownst to the users.”
However, he says iOS 14 is “likely to force people into thinking more about the risks in sharing their own data, and in time, help to protect them.”
There’s no doubt that Apple’s iOS 14 privacy features are good for users, but there is something else worth knowing. As the Verge’s Casey Newton points out, while Apple isn’t a big player in online advertising, it does have its own small business that personalizes ads shown in the App Store and on Apple News based on where users go and what they do in Apple’s apps.
“The company is applying separate rules for its own ad-personalization; to opt out, users must find an option in the iPhone’s settings,” Newton writes.
Even so, iOS 14 is certainly more secure and private than its predecessor, and more so than any other mobile operating system on the market. That’s got to count for something.
Mark Zuckerberg Says Facebook's Decision to Not Take Down Kenosha Militia Page Was a Mistake
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that the social media giant made a mistake by not removing a page and event that urged people in Kenosha, Wis., to carry weapons amid protests. On Tuesday night, a 17-year-old named Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly fatally shot two people and injured a third.
Zuckerberg admitted that “a bunch of people” had reported the page and said the decision to not remove it was “largely an operational mistake.”
“The contractors, the reviewers who the initial complaints were funneled to, didn’t, basically, didn’t pick this up,” Zuckerberg said in the Friday video, which was taken from a larger company-wide meeting. “And on second review, doing it more sensitively, the team that’s responsible for dangerous organizations recognized that this violated the policies and we took it down.”
Protests first began in Kenosha earlier this week after video emerged of police shooting Jacob Blake—a 29-year-old unarmed Black man—several times in the back on Sunday. Blake’s attorney tweeted on Tuesday that he’s currently paralyzed from the waist down. Demonstrations swiftly swept the city, as protesters demanded justice for Blake and other victims of police brutality across the U.S. The officers involved were put on administrative leave.
On Tuesday morning, a page run by a group called “Kenosha Guard” asked if any followers would be willing to “take up arms” and “defend” the city against “evil thugs,” according to an analysis from the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. (The Kenosha Guard page has since been taken down.) The group also posted a since-deleted event titled “Armed Citizens to Protect Our Lives and Property,” which resulted in at least 300 RSVPs and 2,300 more people responding “interested,” per the Atlantic Council’s analysis. Buzzfeed News reports that the event was flagged to Facebook at least 455 times after it was posted.
Both the page and event were eventually taken down by Facebook that night after the deadly shootings, per the Washington Post. Rittenhouse was arrested in Antioch, Ill., which is around 15 miles from Kenosha on Wednesday and charged with first-degree intentional homicide.
In his video posted on Friday, Zuckerberg said Facebook’s investigation of the incident has not found any evidence that the shooter “was following this Kenosha Guard page, or was connected to the event or invited to the event in any way.”
But Zuckerberg said that, regardless, the Kenosha Guard page and event violated Facebook’s new policy against militia organizations that was launched several weeks ago. He said Facebook is now working to remove all content praising Tuesday’s shooting or shooter, and has designated the shooting as a “mass murder.” He also said the social media company had suspended the shooter’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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