Facebook is ramping up its opposition to Apple’s decision to make its Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) tool that enables advertisers to track and target users with in-app advertising. Apple initially planned to make IDFA with the launch of IDFA in September, but after a backlash from developers, agree to postpone the move until early next year to give them time to prepare. Facebook had already voiced its opposition to the move, saying it could make the Facebook Audience Network – which uses Facebook data to track its users in other apps and other websites – so ineffective that it might not make sense to offer it on iOS 14.

Today, its opposition to the move became much more vociferous, as it took out ads in the print editions of the New York Times, Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to express its displeasure, and also published a blog post, written by Dan Levy, VP Ads and Business Products,  titled: ‘Speaking up for small businesses’.

In the post, Facebook said that Apple’s new iOS 14 policy “will have a harmful impact on many small businesses that are struggling to stay afloat and on the free internet that we all rely on more than ever”.

It argued that the move to make IDFA opt-in was more about profit, rather than privacy, as it will force businesses to switch from in-app ad revenues to subscriptions and other in-app purchases, on which Apple takes a cut of between 15 and 30 per cent.  

It argued, too, that Apple is not playing by its own rules, as its own personalized ad platform isnt subject to the new policy. More than anything though, the post stressed the negative impact the move would have on small businesses’ ability to target relevant advertising to app users, saying that its own studies showed that, without personalized ads powered by their own data, small businesses could see a cut of over 60 per cent of website sales from ads.  

It also bigged itself up, noting how: “On Facebook, you can run a campaign with a phone and a few dollars – you no longer need an expensive agency, a five-figure budget or fancy production equipment”.

The post ends with a call to action urging small businesses to learning more about Apple’s iOS 14 policy impact and speaking up. This links to a dedciated Speak up for small landing page where businesses are invited to tell their story, with Facebook promising: “We’ll help the world hear it”.

You’d be hard pressed to find many people in ad tech outside of the Facebook/Google duopoly to have much sympathy with either firm, and Jonathan Harrop Senior Director of Global Marketing & Communications at AdColony probably echoed the thoughts of many as he said:

“Facebook is making the case that Apple, and Apples customers (apps in this case) need Facebook as much as Facebook needs Apple. Not only are there many other options for small businesses to reach consumers effectively that dont rely on personalized ads and device-level targeting, but Facebook is forgetting its place as a service, not as a platform. In the Facebook versus Apple battle, I would place my money on the company thats not in the process of fighting a US Federal antitrust lawsuit.”