Social-media company joins antitrust effort against iPhone maker, claims changes to iOS that block targeted advertising that Facebook specializes in is an assault on small businesses
Facebook launched a PR assault against Apple on Wednesday, proclaiming that the iPhone maker’s upcoming changes to its mobile operating system will hurt small businesses’ ability to target advertising and app makers’ ability to offer free content.
When Apple AAPL, -0.05% updates iOS 14 on mobile devices early next year, it will require all apps to show a prompt allowing users to opt out of targeted advertising. People opting out of tracking will hinder Facebook’s FB, +0.04% ability to collect information it could use to personalize ads, and the company’s attack Wednesday included publicly standing with “Fortnite” owner Epic Games Inc. in its antitrust suit against Apple.
In full-page ads Wednesday morning in the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, Facebook said it is “standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere.” The social media giant also held a news conference featuring a couple of small-business owners who said their businesses have thrived because they effectively target personalized ads.
“There’s no possible way our business would be where it is today without personalized ads,” said Monique Wilsondebriano, who co-owns Charleston Gourmet Burger Co. in South Carolina with her husband Chevalo. She said that when they started their business in 2012, they turned to online ads because they could not afford radio or television advertising: “No way, hands down.”
Apple argues that it is just giving users a choice.
“We believe that this is a simple matter of standing up for our users,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “Users should know when their data is being collected and shared across other apps and websites — and they should have the choice to allow that or not.”
An Apple spokesperson pointed to a letter sent by Jane Horvath, senior director of global privacy at the company, to privacy advocates last month in response to their disappointment that Apple was delaying the rollout of iOS 14.
“Some companies that would prefer [app tracking transparency] is never implemented have said that this policy uniquely burdens small businesses by restricting advertising options, but in fact, the current data arms race primarily benefits big businesses with big data sets,” Horvath wrote.
After the iOS update, users will be able to more easily track who’s tracking them and make changes if necessary, Apple said. It said it was delaying the rollout to give app developers more time to adjust.
