How iOS 14’s New Privacy Feature Could Affect Your Facebook Campaigns

What’s happening?

Beginning in early 2021, iOS users - aka, anyone using an iPhone or iPod Touch - will need to “opt-in” to allow mobile apps like Facebook to continue tracking their activities across other apps and websites. Currently, iOS defaults to allowing apps to track its users across the internet, and it requires a proactive opt-out to avoid tracking. 

When the change takes effect, iOS users attempting to download an app will first see a prompt that describes how the app shares and tracks the user’s data. Then, if the user decides to download the app, the user will see the prompt below requiring them to opt-in or opt-out of tracking (note that “Ask App not to Track” is presented first):

Image: Apple

When is the new policy taking effect?

Apple plans to begin enforcing its new privacy policy in “early 2021,” according to an update posted to its developer site in September, in an effort to give app developers time to adjust to the change. However, the specific date in early 2021 the feature takes effect is unclear.

Why is Apple doing this?

Apple’s move is intended to shed more light on how data is shared across the internet and offer consumers more control over the extent of that sharing. 

As there are currently no US laws regulating how companies track people’s data, the development is a victory for data privacy advocates and is likely the first step in a larger trend towards greater consumer protections over how their information is handled. For most individual iOS users, this will come as a welcome change (more on that below). But for Facebook, Apple’s step towards greater user privacy represents a threat to its business model.

What will the impact be on Facebook and businesses that use Facebook’s advertising platform?

Facebook believes it will likely lose revenue as a result, as its targeted advertising of iOS users will be less precise, since it will have less information on user preferences than it once did. The impact will be most acute to Facebook advertisers in the US, where iOS users constitute 51% of Facebook users. Worldwide, Apple’s share of Facebook users is only 14%, by contrast. 

John Loomus offers an insightful summary on the update’s potential impact over at his Advanced Facebook Marketing blog:

“Updates to iOS 14 will lead to less tracking of people on mobile devices. This will impact the pixel and everything associated with it (conversion tracking, optimization, targeting). It will impact mobile app ads. Audience Network publishers will take a hit, and the placement may be less effective. This may even spill over to location targeting and actions performed within the Facebook app.”

In a nutshell, Facebook believes the resulting “loss of personalization” in its audience targeting will make it harder and more expensive for client businesses to reach the customers who may be most likely to convert on an ad.

What is Facebook’s response?

Facebook launched a website along with an aggressive PR campaign late last year to try to woo regulators and advertising businesses to its side. The campaigns focus on how Apple’s policy will hurt small businesses, claiming that “Apple's new iOS14 policy requires apps to show a discouraging prompt that will prohibit collecting and sharing information that's essential for personalized advertising, unless users opt-in on Apple's terms.”

Certainly, the ramifications for Facebook and its advertisers could be significant and will require close monitoring as the update rolls out over the next days or weeks.

How will iOS users react?

According to recent research, iOS users will largely opt-out of tracking, with only 16% of respondents indicating they would be likely or extremely likely to “Allow Tracking” when given the choice. Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, younger respondents (18-24) were more likely to allow tracking than any other age group.

Source: TapResearch

How to Adapt Your Facebook Campaigns for iOS Users Moving Forward

Though the full impact of Apple’s update on Facebook ads is anyone’s guess, businesses who advertise on Facebook will need to keep a watchful eye on campaign performance among iOS users going forward.

Specifically, advertisers should compile or revisit device-based Facebook campaign reports to familiarize themselves with baseline metric results for iOS and Android audiences to compare with campaigns that run after the update takes effect. We recommend leveraging Facebook Ads Manager’s custom reporting to pull reporting by device type to get a sense of your audience’s historical device proportions (see the example below). You can find additional steps Facebook recommends taking here.

Sample Client Campaign Performance Report by Device Type

The Road Ahead
Facebook will still likely remain one of the most effective advertising platforms in 2021. But as public opinion continues to tilt toward increased data privacy and with the Biden Administration’s plans for greater oversight of the tech sector, marketers and businesses should plan to have a diverse portfolio of advertising options beyond Facebook to effectively reach all segments of their audience.