Facebook’s owner is alleging Google, which also sells personalized ads on iPhones, has an unfair advantage under Apple’s new policies, reported Bloomberg.
Apps including Facebook have to ask users if they consent to being tracked, but Google’s search results and browser don’t — causing some advertisers’ budgets to shift to Google for more effective targeting.
Meta only started critiquing other tech giants by name in recent years. The social media behemoth, now facing antitrust scrutiny around the world, stands to benefit from framing itself as an underdog, threatened by larger forces.
Still, Meta told investors it expected to miss out on $10 billion in ad revenue in 2022 because of Apple’s changes, making it clear the company is more severely impacted than others. Facebook had relied on data from other apps and websites to make its ads effective. Without it, advertisers need to spend more money to achieve the same results.
Facebook ads are “still important, just costing a heck of a lot more,” said Doug Zarkin, chief marketing officer of Pearle Vision, which relies on Facebook and Instagram to drive people to its eye-care website and stores. He estimated that campaigns are 15% to 30% more expensive than last year.
Last year, Google said it wouldn’t prompt consumers about data collection because, after Apple’s change, it decided not to use any of the data on iPhones that would require permission.
According to Bloomberg, Google also doesn’t need the kind of data Facebook does from third parties in order to make its ads work. It runs its own mobile operating system, Android, and its own ad exchanges.
“Google just happens to be in the right place at the right time,” said Rick Watson, chief executive of RMW Consulting. “They were the biggest recipient of the ad dollars that were shifted because of effectiveness.”
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
UK’s CMA Investigates Education Software Company for Market Abuse
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Schumer Urges FTC Caution on Chevron’s $53B Hess Deal Over Gas Price Fears
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Amazon Urges US Judge to Block FTC Probe into Data Preservation
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Colorado Makes History: First State to Enact Comprehensive AI Legislation
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Class Action Settlement Reached in Cheerleading Monopoly
May 14, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Mapping Antitrust onto Digital Ecosystems
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystems and Competition Law: A Law and Political Economy Approach
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Ecosystem Theories of Harm: What is Beyond the Buzzword?
May 9, 2024 by
CPI
Open Ecosystems: Benefits, Challenges, and Implications for Antitrust
May 9, 2024 by
CPI