Photographer: SOPA Images / Getty Images
Photographer: SOPA Images / Getty Images
Facebook Inc. attacked Apple Inc. in a series of full-page newspaper ads Wednesday, claiming that the expected changes in the iPhone maker’s mobile software around data collection and targeted advertising are bad for small businesses.
The ads, which will soon appear in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, have the headline, “ We’re standing until Apple for small business everywhere. “They’re coming home when you expect changes to Apple’s iOS 14 operating system that will limit the ability of companies like Facebook to collect data about mobile users and treat them with ads.
Facebook previously told investors that Apple’s changes, which are scheduled to go live early next year, will create significant headwinds as most advertisers are small businesses. Apple has pushed back, accused Facebook in November of “ disregard for user privacy. ”
“While limiting the way personalized ads can be used will affect larger businesses like us, these changes will be devastating for small businesses,” claims Facebook. The social giant, citing its own data, says that ads that don’t take personalized targeting into account drive 60% fewer sales than ads that target consumers.
Read more: Apple defends the Privacy Delay feature, Slams Facebook
The newspaper ads are the latest in what has become a vicious and public battle between two of the world’s most valuable companies. Facebook has repeatedly claimed that Apple’s App Store fees and the upcoming iOS changes are harming small businesses trying to recover from the pandemic. It has used those attacks to portray itself as a champion for such users, many of whom rely on Facebook’s ad services to boost sales. (That dependence can also place small businesses in a bind.)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also criticized Apple’s expensive smartphones. After his company joined a chorus attacking Apple’s 30% in-app purchase rate for certain services that went online due to the pandemic, Apple said it wouldn’t cost that much by the end of 2020. Last month extended that distance until June 2021.
While this doesn’t apply to Facebook apps, Apple will reduce App Store revenue from 30% to 15% starting next year for developers who until $ 1 million a year. The company said it is implementing the change to support small businesses.
– With help from Mark Gurman