Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, USA, October 23, 2019.
Erin Scott | Reuters
Facebook showed ads and released a new website on Wednesday accusing Apple of a privacy change it believes will happen “[threaten] the personalized ads that millions of small businesses rely on to find and reach customers. ”
The company today runs print and digital ads in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post stating, “We’re up against Apple for small businesses everywhere.” It also has a new website on the change to iOS 14 that will affect Apple’s opt-in for advertising ID, the IDFA.
“Without personalized ads, Facebook data shows that the average small business advertiser sees a discount of more than 60% in sales for every dollar he spends,” the ad read. “While limiting the way personalized ads can be used will affect larger companies like us, these changes will be devastating for small businesses, adding to the many challenges they currently face.”
The ad directs readers to a link to a website on Facebook for Business, which features video interviews of business owners speaking out about the ad change. It also includes an explanation of what will happen, and a “toolkit” to post with the hashtag “#SpeakUpForSmall” to talk about the change.
Apple will soon make a massive change to the settings on users’ iPhones in the name of privacy, and it will fundamentally change the mobile ads on those devices. It takes a privacy option that was previously buried deep in users ‘phones and places it centrally when they open an app, which is expected to dramatically impact advertisers’ ability to target ads as they have been as humans probably won’t sign up.
Facebook has spoken out about the change, to blame Apple with its iOS changes by moving the free, ad-supported Internet to paid apps and services, where Apple can get its 30% discount, and crushing small businesses’ ability to create personalized ads.
Also on Wednesday, Facebook accused Apple of using its power to “harm developers and consumers” as it welcomed the draft laws of the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm. The laws introduce rules for platforms acting as “gatekeepers” in the digital sector, while the DSA is designed to tackle illegal and harmful content by asking platforms to remove it quickly.
Apple was not immediately available to comment.