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āApple is behaving anticompetitively by using their control of the App Store to benefit their bottom line at the expense of creators and small businesses.ā
- Dan Levy, Facebook Vice President for Ads and Business Products
THE STORY
Starting from early 2021, third-party apps will have to ask iOS 14 users' permission to gather data for ad targeting. Apple has already launched new App Store privacy labels allowing users to see how iOS apps use their data.
Facebook isnāt happy about it and responded with a series of full-page newspaper ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
"We're standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere," the ads read. Facebook claims that the changes "will be devastating" to small apps and websites, and that Apple is engaging in anticompetitive practises.
WHY IT'S INTERESTING
The new feature, called App Tracking Transparency, gives iPhone owners greater control over how apps collect and use their data. They will be able to see which apps have required permission to track them and revoke or grant permission when necessary.
This change could potentially hurt Facebookās ad business, which relies heavily on information collected from in-app activity.
No wonder then that the company openly opposes Appleās decision. But what raises an eyebrow is the fact that Facebook hides behind the little guys: small apps and websites that use tracking.
āMany in the small business community have shared concerns about Appleās forced software update, which will limit businessesā ability to run personalized ads and reach their customers effectively,ā reads Facebook's full-page newspaper ad.
In a call with reporters, Dan Levy ā Facebookās vice president of ads and business products ā argued that because of Apple's move āSmall businesses will struggle to stay afloat and many aspiring entrepreneurs may never get off the ground.ā He also suggested that the changes are introduced to effectively try to push developers towards Apple's own targeted advertising platform in the future.
After this waterfall of criticism, Apple responded with a short statement, saying that āApp Tracking Transparency in iOS 14 does not require Facebook to change its approach to tracking users and creating targeted advertising, it simply requires they give users a choice.ā
Funny how we get to watch two tech giants while they fight over which of them will be able to collect more of our private data.
DIG DEEPER
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