Facebook says Apple's new privacy rules will hamper its ad service
Facebook is pushing back on new Apple privacy rules, saying they will reduce businesses' ability to use targeted advertisements.
Apple will soon require apps to ask users for permission to collect data on the devices they are using and to let ads follow them around on the web. The change will take effect in the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 14, which is due this fall.
Facebook said Wednesday that those rules could reduce how much money apps can earn by advertising through the Facebook audience network.
The changes "may severely impact publishers' ability to monetize" Facebook ads, the company said, and could eventually make the advertising tool "ineffective" on Apple's newest operating system.
The audience network allows advertisers with Facebook and Instagram to place their ads elsewhere on the internet to promote their products. Facebook said it expects "less impact" on its own advertising revenue from these changes.
Because of this change, Facebook said it will no longer collect the identifier for advertisers on its own apps for iOS 14 devices. It is also asking businesses to create a new ad account that is dedicated solely to running ads for iOS 14.
"This is not a change we want to make, but unfortunately Apple's updates to iOS14 have forced this decision," the company wrote.
Apple, on the other hand, said it is intent on giving people more choice over how they want to be tracked by companies on the internet — and the ability to say no if they don't.
In Facebook's second-quarter earnings call last month, CFO Dave Wehner said the company is "still trying to understand what these changes will look like and how they will impact us and the rest of the industry."
"But at the very least, it's going to make it harder for app developers and others to grow using ads on Facebook and elsewhere," Wehner said.
He also called targeted ads "a lifeline for small businesses, especially in a time of COVID."
Hundreds of companies have temporarily stopped advertising on Facebook in a nationwide boycott against way the social media network allows hateful or false posts to go unchecked. The boycott has so far cost Facebook at least $150 million, according to Oppenheimer estimates from June. That figure represents less than 1% of the $17 billion in advertising revenue Facebook gained in the first quarter of 2020.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in June that the company would flag "newsworthy" posts from politicians that break its rules and ban false claims meant to discourage voting.
CBS News' Irina Ivanova and Khristopher Brooks contributed reporting.