The new version of the Apple operating system, iOS 14, brings with it a decisive change related to ads and privacy. With the update, Apple users can prevent their data from being passed on to advertisers in the future.
According to Facebook, this iOS 14 privacy feature could collapse its Audience Network advertising business’s revenue by over 50 percent.
The so-called Audience Network from Facebook enables app developers to place advertisements in the applications that are targeted to its users with the help of the rich data from Facebook. To date, advertisers have used Apple’s IDFA, a unique ID for users of Apple devices for tracking advertisements in iOS devices. Like, Facebook and advertisers can this to determine whether a particular advertising campaign has resulted in the installation of an app.
With iOS 14, Apple has made it even more important to protect the privacy of its users. Anyone who wants to access the iOS user ID (IDFA) still offered by Apple in the future is dependent on those users actively agreeing to the subsequent advertising tracking (opt-in). For advertisers, the ID is almost worthless with iOS 14.
Accordingly, Facebook announced that the company’s applications in iOS 14 would initially forego IDFA information. The Facebook SDK will be updated to support iOS 14 and Apple’s SKAd Network API. This means that advertisers would have fewer data available for the implementation and analysis of advertising campaigns.
The social network warned that iOS 14 update puts at risk hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for Facebook and thousands of smaller companies that use its ad network.
