Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on October 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. Zuckerberg testified about Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra, how his company will deal with false and misleading information from political leaders during the 2020 campaign, and how it handles users’ data and privacy.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO, said on Thursday that he is confident the social media company will “make it through” Apple’s planned privacy update to iOS 14, which will make it easier for iPhone and iPad users to block businesses. their activity to track advertisements.
“We will be in a good position,” Zuckerberg said in a clubhouse room on Thursday afternoon.
Apple’s upcoming privacy changes will notify users about device ID tracking and ask them if they want to allow it. The tracking is based on a unique device ID on each iPhone and iPad, the IDFA. Companies that sell mobile ads use this ID to target ads and estimate their effectiveness.
Apple has said the change will be implemented early this spring.
Zuckerberg explained that the change could benefit Facebook if more companies decide to sell goods directly through Facebook and Instagram.
“We may even be in a stronger position as Apple’s changes encourage more companies to do more business on our platforms by making it harder for them to use their data to find the customers who would like their products. beyond our platforms, ”said Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg’s comments are the most optimistic statements Facebook has made about how the impending Apple changes could affect the company’s advertising efforts.
In July 2020, Facebook CFO David Wehner said Apple’s iOS 14 changes could hurt the social media company’s ability to target ads to users, and in August 2020 the company said the changes could lead to a drop of more than 50% in its Audience Network. advertising activities, which represent less than 10% of the company’s net income. The company told investors during its fourth-quarter earnings in January that the impact of Apple’s changes could begin to affect Facebook’s operations later in the first quarter.
Facebook has prepared for the impending Apple changes by introducing more trading products.
Notably, the social media company introduced Facebook Shops and Instagram Shops in 2020. These features allow brands to list their product catalogs directly on Facebook’s most popular apps and sell goods directly on Facebook and Instagram.
Zuckerberg said on Thursday that Facebook already has 1 million active stores on its services and 250 million people actively using stores.
“Compared to the early conversations we had about how people would use this on Facebook and Instagram and our product, I think this is something that is well on its way to becoming something that will become more and more important to people,” said Zuckerberg.