> In response to the discussion on his post, Levy [Facebook’s vice president for ads] said the campaign was “not about our business model.”<p>> “That’s Apple’s marketing working and convincing you to scapegoat us so they can decide how the internet should work — even beyond their devices,” he wrote. “I’m an optimist who works in technology because I think tech can be a lever for democratizing access and giving opportunity. Including for businesses. And if you think this is going to stop with personalized ads . . . well, then I disagree.”<p>Allowing users to choose whether they want to be tracked passes the decision of "how the internet should work" from companies that sell ads to the users. It sounds like Levy just wants to remain in control of that decision.<p>Then he has the audacity to mention "democracy" despite wanting to remove power from the majority of the affected people.
I am sure it is hard to change internal FB momentum. Facebook prioritized user data access at all costs over the last decade. Apple is pressuring all app developers to be transparent with consumers and explain what user data is collected. Users can opt out. That is the crux of the issue for Facebook. They want users to continue sharing data and they don't want anyone grant users the option to opt-out. Excuse my rhetoric but that is weak argument for a feature that will benefit consumers.<p>It will not stop marketers from investing in FB ads. But, it does put the onus on FB to develop privacy centric advertising capabilities. That is a good thing.
I don't understand why Facebook is worried about Apple's changes. After all, if Facebook tracking is indeed good for users, then users will overwhelmingly and enthusiastically opt-in.
The article says some Facebook employees are complaining about Facebook's actions. Based on the link text here (Facebook Employees Say Apple Fight Is “Self Serving”) I thought they were complaining about Apple's actions.
Of course it's self serving. It's possible that it's true, though I disagree, but Facebook ain't running full-page ads in major newspapers because it feels strongly about it from an ethical perspective.
Of course it's self serving, that doesn't mean it's not right or that others can't benefit from it. For example, companies fighting Apple on the App Store 30% cut are self serving, but them winning that fight will directly benefit me.
I’d take a guess that the reason their current ad campaign is coming across so tone deaf is because a lot of Facebook employees are having to spin themselves a story to justify their own morality while working there. This story is now meeting reality and surprise surprise it doesn’t line up.
Of course Facebook's fight is self-serving, and of course they'll spin that fight in whatever way will gain them the most public sympathy for it. Anyone even casually familiar with the company would have expected them to try to stop Apple's changes outright rather than agreeing to any kind of compromise that might impact their bottom line. The only surprise here is that people who work for the company have been surprised at its response.
I wouldn't mind a return to less commercialized web and I certainly wouldn't mind one where privacy-invading ads weren't required to be competitive.
isn't every business decision self-serving in a capitalist business?<p>i mean lets be honest, facebook didn't get to be its size by being nice and altruistic(nor did any of the other FAANG'ish companies).
Facebook might have a point, however the PR team really are so utterly stuck in their own bubble they have failed to understand that they've not done the legwork.<p>The problem is that internally the Comms people believe the shit they post on workplace, which is that facebook is all about supporting small businesses. The issue is that they are so ineffectual that most people only know this when they sit through the 2 day bootcamp induction.<p>If they want to pull this kind of stunt off then they needed to have spent the last six months bombarding print and TV with their success stories. But they haven't, they've just reached out and referenced numbers that only true believers know.<p>Basically Facebook's PR appears to be amateurish and unable to understand how to interpret public sentiment. for a company supposedly so good at data, they are sure as shit terrible about commissioning and understanding opinion polls.
Both companies are being hypocritical. FB is of course trying to spin their image to be the “champion of small business”, when the only thing they care about is ad revenue. And the only reason Apple is so pro-user privacy is because their business model doesn’t depend on user data, i.e. they don’t have skin in the game.<p>If FB was smart, they would attack Apple as supporting the death of middle-class America by outsourcing their labor to overseas sweat shops and being in bed with the CCP.