Apple privacy changes impact Facebook ads

Following tech giant Apple's latest update to its iOS operating system just over a month ago, advertisers on Facebook are already feeling the effects of the requirement for users of products like the iPhone to give express permission for apps to track them, as fewer consumers choose to do so. 

Why it matters

Tracking data is central to current methods of targeting (and re-targeting) online advertising. Less data alters what platforms like Facebook can offer, in terms of ‘lookalike’ audiences and matching ads to sales, and potentially makes them less attractive to advertisers.

Privacy has also become a proxy war between Apple and Facebook, the former extolling its credentials in this area, the latter claiming to stand up for the small businesses that make up the bulk of its advertisers.

Details 

• iOS users are giving apps permission to track their behavior just 25% of the time, according to linking and attribution firm Branch, which analyses mobile app growth.
• Media buyers using Facebook tell Bloomberg that it has become harder to both put a product in front of potential new customers and to understand which ads are working.
• One media buyer reports a 57% gap between sales he can see on Shopify and what Facebook is now reporting; another suggests Facebook ads are 40% less effective.
• As smaller advertisers start to struggle, some buyers are shifting their spending to other channels, like influencers.

Key quote

“It’s been pretty devastating for, I would say, the majority of advertisers. The big question is: are we seeing just short-term volatility where we can expect a move back to the mean, or is this a new normal?” – Eric Seufert, Mobile Dev Memo trade blog. 

Sourced from Bloomberg