Facebook warned today, Wednesday, that the privacy changes that Apple is planning in version 14 of the upcoming iOS (iOS) operating system "will disproportionately affect" thousands of developers who use Facebook's tool to display ads in external applications.
The social media giant said in a blog that it is making changes to its advertising activity in response to new Apple rules, which require increased user notifications to track ads, and will take effect when the upcoming iPhones are launched during the fall of 2020.
Facebook added that it is considering to stop using a tool called Audience Network on iPhones, which thousands of developers have placed in their applications to display ads. On the other hand, Facebook collects data about users from the apps that serve these ads.
For years, Apple introduced a tool called the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), which allowed Facebook and others to participate in such tracking of users across apps. But last June, Apple said that such activity would require a pop-up notification stating that the app "would like permission to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies." Digital advertising experts expect that most users will refuse to grant this permission.
As an alternative to the tracking tools it previously provided to advertisers, Apple has created a new ad network technology that it says better protects user privacy. Facebook said on Wednesday that it would stop using the old Apple tracking tools in its own applications and adopt the new Apple offer, although it believes that the new Apple technology "limits the data available to companies to run and measure advertising campaigns."
The changes announced by Facebook on Wednesday are expected to be more difficult for ads that urge users to install new mobile apps, a format widely used in the video game industry.
John Nardon, chief executive of Flashtalking, a company that specializes in advertising software, said that Apple's move to restrict its advertising actions could be seen as anti-competitive by raising prices on consumers accustomed to using free, ad-supported apps.
"The burden may be less for publishers," said David Shavern, president of the News Media Alliance, which represents many of the major American publishers. For these, advertising relies a lot on what is known as first-party data, such as user-reads stories, to determine which ads It will be shown, which is an activity that is not subject to the new Apple rules. "
"News publishers do not benefit from tracking across applications, and on a larger scale, we all see the ecosystem moving against automated ads," he added. "It may end up with benefits for publishers from that, such as returning some to ads that are in line with the context."