Online advertisement is a major source of revenue generation for many apps and sites. Facebook’s major revenue comes from personalized ads, targeted towards users all over the world. They hire third-party trackers that collect information about the types of sites people visit for online shopping, and the stuff they buy or search for. Sites use cookies and other tracking tools to show ads to the users based on their interests that they learn through tracking. Now, this is beneficial for apps like Facebook as they provide their platform to show ads for various brands and products and earn through them, and it is equally beneficial for the businesses and brands that use common and widely used platforms to reach out to their potential customers.
Apple on the other hand believes that instead of targeting users with ads and forcing them to watch them, it is better to give control to the users. Users should be able to allow these ads or disable them if they do not wish to see them.
That is also a fair point, but when Apple announced the feature ‘Identifier for Advertisers’ (IDFA) for its iOS 14, all online platforms and advertisers opposed it. This feature will allow the users to choose whether they want a site or app to track them and show them ads based on their interests or not? If the user wants to enable the feature, they may allow ad-tracking, and if the user is not interested, they would get a chance to say no, simply.
Now, some changes are coming in the IDFA feature and it will make the companies' tracking of users more difficult as it will directly prompt the users to accept or reject any form of data tracking.
Facebook has been very vocal about its stance against Apple’s monopoly, but now, it is calling this a proper attack that will harm small and medium-sized businesses.
According to Facebook, these SMBs rely on platforms like Facebook to show their ads and to maximize their reach. But now that Apple will destroy their chances to reach out, their sales will drastically decrease. And here, it is important to mention that Facebook itself will suffer a major blow when the majority of people will opt out of the ad tracking system.
Facebook is accusing Apple of anti-competitive behavior as these changes will actually benefit Apple more because of several reasons. One is that when the ad tracking option will be taken away, the businesses will be forced to introduce subscriptions and in-app payments to earn. On the App Store, Apple takes a cut of 30% from all the in-app purchases/earnings. So, forcing more businesses to turn towards subscription and in-app based systems will inadvertently benefit Apple.
Secondly, these policies will not directly affect Apple’s own personalized ad platform. So, it is not going to feel the brunt of this harmful situation.
Currently, Facebook has launched a whole campaign against Apple through its website, blog posts, full-page ads in American newspapers, and a lot more to pressure Apple into reversing their decision regarding this upcoming update.
Read next: Facebook 'Super' Is Another Attempt By The Social Network To Break Into Well-Trodden Territory
Apple on the other hand believes that instead of targeting users with ads and forcing them to watch them, it is better to give control to the users. Users should be able to allow these ads or disable them if they do not wish to see them.
That is also a fair point, but when Apple announced the feature ‘Identifier for Advertisers’ (IDFA) for its iOS 14, all online platforms and advertisers opposed it. This feature will allow the users to choose whether they want a site or app to track them and show them ads based on their interests or not? If the user wants to enable the feature, they may allow ad-tracking, and if the user is not interested, they would get a chance to say no, simply.
Now, some changes are coming in the IDFA feature and it will make the companies' tracking of users more difficult as it will directly prompt the users to accept or reject any form of data tracking.
Facebook has been very vocal about its stance against Apple’s monopoly, but now, it is calling this a proper attack that will harm small and medium-sized businesses.
According to Facebook, these SMBs rely on platforms like Facebook to show their ads and to maximize their reach. But now that Apple will destroy their chances to reach out, their sales will drastically decrease. And here, it is important to mention that Facebook itself will suffer a major blow when the majority of people will opt out of the ad tracking system.
Facebook is accusing Apple of anti-competitive behavior as these changes will actually benefit Apple more because of several reasons. One is that when the ad tracking option will be taken away, the businesses will be forced to introduce subscriptions and in-app payments to earn. On the App Store, Apple takes a cut of 30% from all the in-app purchases/earnings. So, forcing more businesses to turn towards subscription and in-app based systems will inadvertently benefit Apple.
Secondly, these policies will not directly affect Apple’s own personalized ad platform. So, it is not going to feel the brunt of this harmful situation.
Currently, Facebook has launched a whole campaign against Apple through its website, blog posts, full-page ads in American newspapers, and a lot more to pressure Apple into reversing their decision regarding this upcoming update.
Read next: Facebook 'Super' Is Another Attempt By The Social Network To Break Into Well-Trodden Territory
