Even after a month of attacking and accusing Tim Cook Zuckerberg is still very much fizzle out from Apple’s major blow to targetted advertising via its iOS 14 update.
Quite recently, in a bid to throw a more positive light on the targeted advertisement and how it does more good than bad, Facebook unveiled a new marketing campaign.
The social media behemoth’s latest campaign defends personalised ads as a highly essential and beneficial component of small businesses who do not possess gigantic budgets to spend on marketing like big corporations, especially post the COVID-19 outbreak.
Facebook Inc is all set to run ads that will feature clients of their advertising platform on the web, radio and during popular TV programs such as ‘Good Morning America‘ and the Golden Globes awards show.
The tagline for Facebook’s marketing effort – “Good ideas deserve to be found. Personalized ads help you find them.”
Now, Facebook executives say that their recent campaign is driven by the thought of how small businesses have been struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic. But, it is quite clear that the effort also aims to take a jab at Apple which seeks to cut short the future of targetted advertisement across their highly coveted iOS ecosystem.
Note here that it is the advertising business that has helped Zuckerberg fill Facebook’s coffers and made it into the tech giant we know today. Advertising sits at the core of the social media behemoth’s business model and accounts for 98% of the company’s total revenue to date.
Thus, it is well understood why Facebook wants to wage a war against Apple.
The iPhone maker’s ATT aka App Tracking Transparency feature is a two-pronged attack on Facebook. Why?
First, it has made third-party tracking completely optional for all users regardless of what platform they use on their iPhone. Apple device users will receive an opt-in message which will ask if they want to be tracked by a certain app installed on the device. Only if they choose YES, third-party tracking will be enabled for the user, otherwise it will be kept disabled.
How does this hurt Facebook? Well, if a user opts to not be tracked then the social media giant can no longer collect sensitive and usage data to build a detailed customer profile based on his/her usage behaviour. As a result, it will render personalised ads completely ineffective.
The other significant reform included in the Apple iOS 14’s ATT update is transparency regarding the collection of user data. Apple has made it mandatory for all apps listed on its App Store to disclose the various types of data it collects from users.
All in all, it is safe to assume the spat between Facebook and Apple will continue for a very long time. We will keep you updated on all future developments. Until then, stay tuned!
