It’s a title-weight bout: Apple vs. Facebook. Apple is all about privacy (although they may have other motives up their sleeves – more on this later). On the other hand, Facebook is all about leveraging user data to maximize user engagement, ad performance, etc. When Apple announced its new privacy settings for iOS 14, Facebook immediately retaliated with a statement of their own.
How Does iOS 14 Work?
Users will receive a prompt, like the image below, where they can control if Facebook can track them on their iOS device. Not surprisingly, most users click no.
This isn’t just for Facebook. This is for other apps as well. Users can change their settings at any time to restrict any apps that they have from tracking their data.
In addition to restricting app developers from tracking, iOS 14 also made updates to location sharing and local network access. When apps ask to use your location, there is now an option to no longer share your specific location. Instead, you can share an approximate one. Similarly, apps that request local network access, such as for Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, can be restricted through Privacy Settings.
What’s Happened So Far?
So, why is Apple’s new privacy feature so controversial? To understand that, let’s look at the timeline of events that have happened so far:
June 22, 2020: Apple posted their full press release for iOS 14 on their website, breaking down all its new features, including the new privacy updates.
August 26, 2020: In a newsletter posted to Facebook’s business site, they explained their concern about iOS 14’s impact on “businesses’ abilities to market themselves and monetize through ads.”
September 3, 2020: Apple announced that their plan to delay iOS 14’s app and website tracking feature until 2021 due to heavy criticism from Facebook and other major publishers.
September 10, 2020: Facebook updated their original post to let users know that they were still working to reduce iOS 14’s harm to businesses.
December 16, 2020: Facebook created a new article “Speaking Up for Small Businesses” in which they accused Apple of “not playing by their own rules” and further explained why the iOS 14 update would harm small businesses the most, with up to a 60% cut of website sales from ads.
January 28, 2021: Facebook considers their options and begins preparation for an Antitrust Lawsuit against Apple.
April 20, 2021: Apple reminds app developers that iOS 14.5 will require them to request user permission to track their data under their AppTrackingTransparency framework.
April 26, 2021: Facebook continues to educate users on how data tracking helps small businesses by adding an informational screen before users are presented with Apple’s prompt so that each user can make an informed decision before even receiving the iOS 14 data tracking notification.
June 30, 2021: Facebook and Instagram began testing notifications that offer users the opportunity for more personalized ads if they allow the apps to track their activity data.
How Will My Ad Campaigns Be Affected?
What iOS 14 means for your business is advertising campaigns on Facebook/Instagram will be impaired by the lack of data coming from iOS 14 users. With that, Facebook had to make significant changes in their ad tracking, specifically:
Facebook Shortened Their Attribution Window
Facebook now reports a SIGNIFICANTLY shorter attribution window (7-day post-click, 1-day post-view). Previously, advertisers could see how their ad drove performance up to 28 days post-click/view.
This is a blow to any advertiser selling products that may take several weeks to convert (i.e. high ticket items).
Re-marketing Audiences Will Be Reduced
Facebook will not be able to track iOS users. Less re-marketing opportunities will result in a smaller audience that’s close to purchase.
Estimated Results for Conversions From iOS Users
Facebook may leverage some statistical modeling to help bridge the gap between conversions that are reported vs. what could have been reported with iOS 14 users included. Real-time reporting will be replaced by delays of up to 3 days. Leveraging estimated results for conversions will result in smaller and less effective retargeting audiences.
What Can I Do?
Now that we put the cards on the table for what and why, let’s dive into what advertisers can do to make this less of a disruption.
Focus on First Party Data
As the industry is moving away from cookies, focus on first-party data. That data will never go away. What this means is to focus on building your email database.
At Rise, we’re having success in leveraging Facebook’s lead gen. ads to build a sizable database of users to target via email, or other ads down the road.
Consider testing a pop-up on the site that collects emails as well. We strongly recommend Privy.
Leverage Other Data Sources
Just because Facebook isn’t reporting the conversions due to the aforementioned reasons doesn’t mean that they didn’t happen. Make sure you’re leveraging another analytics platform, such as Google Analytics. If you’re still seeing sales come in at the same velocity, even though Facebook isn’t, keep things running.
Test Different Conversion Events in Facebook
If reported conversions are down on Facebook, test other actions to track to check if Facebook is receiving enough data to optimize for. For example, add to carts, checkout initiation, or even landing page views.
Diversify
As always, we believe a strong program is diversified across platforms. Don’t put all your eggs into the Facebook/Instagram basket. Consider, Google, Microsoft, and other platforms like Criteo. Ask your rep if you’re interested in other platforms.
Conclusion
I mentioned Apple likely has other motives beyond privacy. I believe (could be totally wrong) that they see Facebook’s ad revenue and likely want to grow theirs. By hindering other platforms, like Facebook, they can put themselves at an advantage if they decide to put more investment into their own ad network. By doing so, they could likely grab a larger share of a growing digital advertising market.
Whatever the case may be, we will continue to stay on top of the continuously unfolding news between Apple and Facebook. Their privacy updates are not the end of the world for your business. They might just mean we will have to evolve and adjust as necessary.
