Apple U-Turn: It Will ‘Delay’ Killing Facebook’s Business Model
“Would you like evil advertisers to track you in this app?” Is anyone going to touch “Yes” on their iPhone?
That’s Facebook’s argument against a planned change in iOS 14. Apple was to have started asking users if they’re OK with being spied on by third-party apps.
Facebook circled the wagons and called in the Cavalry. In today’s SB Blogwatch, we learn Apple backed off.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Stalled Trek.
Tim Blinks
What’s the craic? Alex Heath claims this breathless exclusive—“Apple to Delay iOS Change Roiling Mobile Ad Market”:
Apple plans to delay the enforcement of a controversial change to its next mobile operating system that would upend how ads are targeted on iPhones and iPads, according to people familiar with the matter.
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The change in iOS 14, the next version of Apple’s mobile software, will require developers to ask users to share their device’s unique identifier for advertising purposes through a prompt. Many developers and advertisers rely on this identifier, or IDFA, to track the effectiveness of their ad campaigns in mobile apps, particularly for ads that prompt the viewer to download a specific app or game. Experts believe most people will not agree to share their IDFA when asked.
O RLY? Stephen Nellis and Neha Malara confirm it—“Apple to delay privacy change”:
Apple said in a statement: “We want to give developers the time they need to make the necessary changes, and as a result, the requirement to use this tracking permission will go into effect early next year.” … Advertisers have said that system is likely to generate less revenue.
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The delay could benefit Facebook, which last week said the changes to the iOS 14 operating system would render one of its mobile advertising tools “so ineffective on iOS 14 that it may not make sense to offer it.” … Facebook said last week it would quit using the tool that requires a prompt in its own apps.
And Samuel Axon up sums—“Facebook complains, Apple responds”:
Apple now says that, while developers will be able to implement this notification and request for permission, doing so will no longer be mandatory. … The delay comes in the wake of a public ploy by Facebook to rally app developers and marketers against Apple over the planned change.
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The change would fundamentally threaten the viability of Facebook’s business model on iOS [said Facebook]. The argument was that, given the choice, users would generally opt out, greatly weakening the strength of the network for advertisers.
Are they serious? John Gruber has been watching too much TV:
[The] new ad from Apple touting iPhone privacy protection is good, and genuinely funny. But what makes it funny — the premise is a series of people loudly sharing in the real world the sort of information that gets unknowingly tracked online — is actually the perfect analogy to help explain how the tracking industry — what ought to be considered the privacy theft industry — has grown into existence.
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The tracking industry, led by Facebook, is up in arms about … the new ad-tracking privacy protection feature in iOS 14. … The entitlement of these ****ers is just off the charts. … Real-world marketers could never get away with tracking us like online marketers do.
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Imagine if … public billboards were taking photos of people who glance at them, logging those photos to a database, and using facial recognition to match them with photos taken at point-of-sale terminals in retail stores. That way, if, say, you were photographed looking at an ad for a soft drink, and later … purchased that same soft drink, the billboard advertisement you glanced at … could get “credit” for your purchase.
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Just because there is now a multi-billion-dollar industry based on the abject betrayal of our privacy doesn’t mean the sociopaths who built it have any right whatsoever to continue getting away with it. … They think our privacy is theirs for the taking because they’ve been getting away with taking it without our knowledge.
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No action Apple can take against the tracking industry is too strong.
So why is Apple delaying? Our French friend AmiMoJo knows:
It’s because Apple is facing investigations over its monopoly practices, so is waiting to see how those turn out before destroying a large chunk of another company’s ad revenue.
So roo82 is swearily disappointed:
Disappointing. **** Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. I thought if any company had the resources to stand up to Facebook’s bull****, it was Apple. Guess not.
But who cares about Facebook? nimbius thinks the future looks cloudy: [You’re fired—Ed.]
Facebook is dying. … Facebook has lost or fired most of the creative talent that drove it in the past five years.
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The exodus of brands like Coke and Pepsi only fuel an increasingly pointless wasteland of angry boomers and tone-deaf bureaucrats. Kids and Gen Z don’t use it, and most millennials have it only to bridge communication with a … boomer family during COVID or have dropped it entirely.
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What Apple is doing here is sending a resounding message to Facebook: Wealthy people who aren’t averse to purchasing a thousand dollar status symbol phone will be granted a pittance of immunity from the overwhelming hellscape that is predatory surveillance capitalism. It will be assumed that they do not need constantly surveiled marketing and ad placement, as they themselves know the explicit products and brands that will be purchased.
Wait. Pause. Is Apple really cleaner than clean in all of this? librish thinks not:
One thing that removes a lot of credibility from Apple’s “for the good of the user” communication on this is that they broke out the personalization for their own ad network as an option, put it in a different location, and made it opt-out instead of opt-in.
But anyway, the whole affair does rather highlight the icky practices going on. This Anonymous Coward ain’t pleased:
Come on Google. I’d sooner walk accross broken glass than buy into Apple’s locked down ecosystem.
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I hate how wide open Android phones are to privacy violations. I know Google already has my data, but I can more or less trust them. But all the other apps on my phone, and games etc. that require huge permissions which are not granular. It’s just a bit much.
Meanwhile, @JonyIveParody—quips this translation:
Apple caved. … “Your privacy is not as important as Facebook liking us.” —Tim Cook.
And Finally:
This is better than Lower Decks, at least
You have been reading SB Blogwatch by Richi Jennings. Richi curates the best bloggy bits, finest forums, and weirdest websites … so you don’t have to. Hate mail may be directed to @RiCHi or [email protected]. Ask your doctor before reading. Your mileage may vary. E&OE. 30.
Image sauce: Gabriel Ortiz (public domain)
