Apple has changed the rules – and this is how you should advertise on Facebook from now on

Changes in privacy policy have far-reaching implications for the ability to target campaigns, analyze exposures, and optimize. Facebook recommends a series of tools and adjustments

A significant move by Apple is set to affect us all, both as consumers and as business owners or marketers: a change to the operating system will require active consent from users to monitor their browsing habits, the type of content they consume, and any activity in the app or on linked websites. As part of the change, which will be implemented over the coming year, app developers will be forced to ask iPhone and iPad users for permission to collect information about them and track their location. This is different from the current situation, where monitoring is usually enabled by default, and the user can manually change this in any app they download. In addition, as part of the update to the iOS 14 privacy policy, Apple has begun to require transparency in the App Store regarding the type of information that will be collected.

The change is expected to affect the ability to monitor network usage and initiate targeted advertising. One of the main victims will be Facebook, the main advertising and content distribution channel for many companies and organizations. When the change comes into effect, iPhone users will be able to prevent apps and websites from activating an identifier (pixel) and using it to monitor their behavior online. Facebook currently does this for its users even when they surf other websites, in order to enrich their personal profile and show them targeted advertisements.

Users of the Facebook app on Apple will soon be presented with the question:
Allow Facebook to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites?

And everyone will be able to choose between Ask App not to Track and Allow.

The social network launched an extensive campaign against the move, which, in its opinion, harms not only it but also small and medium-sized businesses, which are already struggling during the Corona period. “We stand with small businesses everywhere – Apple is hurting them and the free internet,” Facebook accused in huge ads in mainstream newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the New York Times. It claimed that without the ability to display personalized ads, websites and blogs would be forced to charge subscription fees or other fees.

In parallel with the publicized campaign, Facebook announced a series of technical steps that businesses advertising through it must implement to minimize the impact on the analysis, optimization and personalization capabilities of campaigns. The breach itself is expected to include, among other things, segmentation data such as age, gender, religion, and user location, as well as real-time updates on their actions (the information collected may arrive with a delay of up to three days). Special emphasis is given in the guidelines to the need for domain verification, especially multi-pixel domains used by more than one business.

How will the iOS 14 version update affect the campaign? Click herefor Facebook’s clarifications and tips

The clash of the titans between Apple and Facebook is not a one-off or semantic one: these are economic models with seemingly conflicting interests, with one relying on selling devices and striving to ensure maximum privacy for its consumers, while the other works to make relevant information accessible and is required to collect metadata about users to do so. In recent years, the social network has indeed opened up new, significantly cheaper horizons for small businesses that cannot afford to advertise in official media. Thanks to Facebook, they enjoy increased accessibility to relevant customers at affordable prices.

This battle of the powers is reaching its climax against the backdrop of an intense campaign by the White House, the Department of Justice, lawmakers and regulators in the United States against the technology giants, and a series of mutual lawsuits among themselves. For business owners, who largely depend on smart and personalized digital marketing to retain customers and expand their circle of customers, it is clear that these struggles are expected to have far-reaching consequences, and it is worth following them.