Evan Spiegel, CEO of SNAP Inc.
Stephen Desaulniers | CNBC
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told CNBC on Friday that while changes to the privacy of Apple’s iPhone certainly hurt advertising, it is ultimately the right choice for its consumers.
“We feel that we are well prepared for these changes and, frankly, as these changes are in line with our privacy philosophy, we never allow specific targeting of a device, for example, and we always take a very protective stance when it comes to data of our users, “Spiegel said in an interview with” Squawk Alley “. “We generally see this as a good thing for consumers, even if it is a little disturbing for advertisers in the short term.”
To target mobile ads and measure their effectiveness, app developers and other industry players often use the Apple Advertiser Identifier (IDFA), a unique string of letters and numbers on each Apple device. But once a privacy update is released, app manufacturers will be forced to ask for permission to access a user’s IDFA through a prompt. A significant proportion of users are expected to say no, which should make targeted advertising less effective.
Spiegel’s most casual nod to the impending change is a dramatically different response from his Facebook colleague, Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook also hosts a large online advertising business, deriving almost all of its ad revenue.
Facebook has repeatedly criticized Apple for the planned change since it was announced in June, and said it would affect small businesses.
“Apple can say that it is doing this to help people, but the moves clearly track the interests of its competitors,” said Zuckerberg during Facebook’s earnings conference call last week. “We and others will face this in the near future.”
This does not mean that Snap is not worried at all. The company warned investors on Thursday in its fourth-quarter earnings report that Apple’s changes would pose a risk of demand disruption once implemented.
“The reason we are highlighting some of the policy changes that Apple is making is that they will affect our ability to measure and optimize advertising outside of Snapchat,” said Spiegel.
Snap said it has been working with Apple to prepare for the changes and plans to provide advertisers with more opportunities to deliver their products and services to Snap users directly through Snapchat.
“The reality is that we admire Apple and believe that they are trying to do the right thing for their customers,” said Jeremi Gorman, Snap’s business director, on the company’s earnings conference call. “Their focus on protecting privacy is aligned with our values and the way we built our business from the start. Overall, we feel very well prepared for these changes, but changes in this ecosystem are often harmful and the outcome is uncertain. “
– Megan Graham of CNBC contributed to this report.
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