Facebook itself admits that it is facing difficult times ahead. When Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature is released to everyone with the release of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5, it will prompt users to choose if they want to continue to be tracked for advertising purposes. Most people are expected to automatically deactivate and this makes Facebook and its executives furious. The social networking company ran a full-page ad against Apple in December; that same month, Facebook’s vice president of ads and commercial products, Dan Levy, said: “Apple is behaving anticompetitively using its control of the App Store to benefit its financial results at the expense of creators and small businesses. Final.”
Zuckerberg told his team to inflict pain on Apple in 2018
What made Facebook so upset is the potential drop in advertising revenue that, according to him, could occur when Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature is disseminated. Throughout 2020, Facebook generated $ 85 billion in advertising revenue and the company itself said last year that up to 50% of advertising revenue is at risk thanks to Apple’s ATT. This means that a lot of money is at stake.
Mark Zuckerberg told his team to inflict pain on Apple after Tim Cook made some comments in 2018
This is not the first time that Zuckerberg has shown serious animosity against Apple. According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2018, when word spread that 87 million Facebook subscribers had their personal data stolen by a company called Cambridge Analytica, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview broadcast by national television that Apple would never make its customers the product. Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, at a subsequent meeting, told his team in particular that “we need to inflict pain” on Apple because the tech giant has treated his company so badly. In public, those familiar with his response say that Zuckerberg responded to the Apple executive by calling his comments “extremely simplistic” and “not at all in line with the truth”.
The battle between Apple and Facebook reminds us of the old westerns. Apple is wearing the white hat as it enters as the good guys who seek to maintain privacy across the city. Facebook wears a black hat and has been terrorizing citizens. But Facebook sees Apple’s actions as hypocritical, as it does a lot of business in China, where personal privacy is scarce. Apple’s Cook probably had Facebook in mind when he gave a speech last month putting “algorithm-fueled conspiracy theories”. Days after the Capitol was under siege, the executive’s comments were directed at Facebook users who were spreading unfounded conspiracy theories about the results of the 2020 presidential election and other false stories promoted by QAnon believers and other conspiracy theorists. Again, the CEO did not refer to Facebook by name, but it was clear that it was Facebook that he claimed for having a business model that, according to him, promotes violence and division.
Both Apple and Facebook have different plans for the internet, which also intensifies the battle between the two companies. THE WSJ notes that Facebook is looking to “capture and monetize eyes across all possible devices and platforms”. Apple is focusing on its hardware and promoting its privacy platform as a reason why consumers should buy their devices and favor their ecosystem.
A Facebook spokeswoman named Dani Lever said the company believes that consumers can enjoy personalized service and privacy and that Facebook offers both. Lever says Facebook is “deliberately defending Apple” on behalf of companies and developers who will be harmed by Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature. She stated that this dispute is not a personal one and added: “It is not about two companies. It is about the future of free internet. Apple says it is about privacy, but it is about profit, and we are joining others to point out their self-preferential and anti-competitive behavior. “
