Facebook has pushed back against the planned launch of anti-tracking tools from Apple every possible opportunity, but now the social media giant seems to be changing his tone in a last-ditch effort to save face. On Thursday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook could actually be in a “stronger position” after the privacy updates for iOS and is optimistic about how the company will withstand this change, according to CNBC and CNET.
“The reality is that I am confident that we will be able to do well in this situation and we will be in a good position,” he said in a Clubhouse room on Thursday for the points of sale.
With privacy updates planned by Apple for iOS 14, which are scheduled to be released sometime this spring, the company aims to give iOS users more transparency and control over their data by requesting permission before apps can track their work on other apps and the web.
Facebook wasn’t too interested in this idea, given this roughly 98% of its revenue stream it depends on the targeted ads, which are built around monitoring a person’s browsing habits. Company launched a campaign to convince people that personalized ads are good, which has involved removal so far full-page ads in several major newspapers to condemn Apple and run a video ad claiming that Apple’s privacy updates kill small businesses by not giving Facebook and other apps free brakes to listen to your data.
(As you might already suspect, Facebook claims It has been found to be misleading at best and stand-alone propaganda at worst. While advertising may become a little more difficult for small businesses and developers with Apple’s new updates, Facebook is the highest income, not the little boys.)
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Now, however, with Apple updates approaching the horizon, Facebook is apparently adopting a new strategy: corncobbing. Aka, to continue to embarrass himself rather than admit to being brutally detained.
On Thursday, Zuckerberg reiterated his concern that Apple’s decision could continue to affect small businesses and developers, but expressed hope that Facebook could benefit from the situation, CNBC and CNET report.
“We may even be in a stronger position if Apple’s changes encourage more companies to trade more on our platforms, making it harder for them to use data to find customers who would like to use their products outside of our platforms.” he said.
This is far from the gloomy picture that Facebook painted. In August 2020, the company warned that Apple updates could lead to a decrease of over 50% in its Audience Network advertising activity, which allows mobile software developers to customize ads based on Facebook data. Facebook’s chief financial officer, David Wehner he also expressed concern it could affect the ability of the social network to effectively target ads to users.
Apple and Facebook did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. Apple has has repeatedly defended its planned privacy updates against Facebook’s allegations, arguing that these new features do not completely get rid of targeted ads, but give users the chance to give up, if they wish.