Facebook braces for Apple’s privacy changes

Facebook said Wednesday that Apple’s upcoming privacy updates could make it tougher for the social network to target some iPhone users with ads on other mobile apps.

Facebook offers a service to businesses called the “Audience Network,” which allows businesses to use the social network’s targeting to run ads on thousands of mobile apps. Facebook collects a trove of data from its users, allowing advertisers to target potential customers based on age, location and other criteria. 

Apple is expected to release an updated mobile operating system called iOS 14 in the fall. As part of these updates, the smartphone maker is requiring apps to ask users for permission to collect and share data using a unique code that identifies their mobile Apple devices. Called the advertising identifier or IDFA, this piece of data makes it possible for businesses to better target ads and gauge whether they’re working. 

“For developers and publishers using Audience Network, our ability to deliver targeted ads on iOS 14 will be limited. As a result, some iOS 14 users may not see any ads from Audience Network, while others may still see ads from us, but they’ll be less relevant,” Facebook said in a blog post.

The social network said that it won’t collect the identifier for advertisers (IDFA) on our own apps on iOS 14 devices. Facebook said it didn’t want to make this change but Apple’s updates to its mobile operating system “forced this decision.” These updates will make it harder for businesses of all sizes to target new customers and measure the impact of their ads, Facebook said.

Apple’s impact on Facebook’s ad services highlight the differences between how these businesses make money. Facebook makes most of its revenue from serving targeted ads and the company has faced criticism for not doing enough to protect user privacy. The company launched a new feature last year that lets users see a list of apps and websites that share their online activity with the social network and clear this history.

Facebook said the Apple’s privacy changes might make its Audience Network service so “ineffective” that it might not make sense for the company to offer it on iOS 14 devices. The company said in testing it’s seen more than a 50% drop in Audience Network publisher revenue. More than 1 billion people see an Audience Network ad every month, according to the social network. Facebook said it expects “less impact” to its own ad business.