I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a disingenuous paragraph in a full-page newspaper ad as this one from Facebook in their ongoing attack on Apple:
Apple’s change will limit their ability to run personalized ads. To make ends meet, many will have to start charging you subscription fees or adding more in-app purchases, making the internet much more expensive and reducing high-quality free content.
Let’s be clear here. For one… there is literally NO free content on Facebook. And very little of it is high-quality. That which is, does not come from Facebook. They are not a company of journalists and writers.
Newsflash for those who’ve been under a rock for the last 25 years… the Internet has always been expensive. The real issues here:
1) who’s profiting?
2) in what currency?
3) is the transaction clear and transparent?
There are many companies profiting from the existing model of ‘free’ Internet. But it’s not small businesses. It’s Google, Facebook and a trove of others (Apple included).
On the currency and transparency… Facebook is far and away the worst here. They despise transparency. Apple wants to expose their users to what Facebook is collecting from you, the product, and let you choose whether or not you’d like to participate. You can choose to opt in. Facebook is worried that many will opt out once they understand what Facebook is doing. Not an unjust fear, but it’s yet to be seen how it will play out.
Apple’s motivation is coming from its customers. They (and I’m one of them) want these options. They’re one of the reasons we choose to buy iOS devices instead of Android devices. I don’t want targeted advertising. In fact, at this point I’ve been using the Internet for 30 years and I’m essentially blind to all online advertising; my brain has a highly-trained ad-ignoring filter. I don’t want large corporations tracking my every move online. Especially without transparency. Heaven forbid that I be willing to pay Apple for a device that allows me to protect some of my privacy!
Facebook’s motivations are at least partly coming from their customers too. But you, the end user, are NOT their customer. The advertisers are their customers. You are their product. I don’t quite get why Facebook tries to deny this; without you (the end user) and all the data they collect on you… they have no product to sell to advertisers. They’d have to change their business model. Perhaps charge a subscription fee. And for most of us… Facebook is definitely not something we’d knowingly pay ‘real’ money to use. But if you’re a Facebook user, you ARE paying for it. With your privacy and your time. And possibly your mental health. And maybe even your data plan.
And Facebook knows this to be true.
Beyond hurting apps and websites, many in the small business community say this change will be devastating for them too, at a time when they face enormous challenges. They need to be able to effectively reach the people most interested in their products and services to grow.
LMAO. “Hurting apps and websites”. Could you be more ambiguous? Oh, I see… you mean facebook.com. Sorry, I forgot for a moment that Google and Facebook have _decimated_ many small businesses as well as some large ones (news broadcasters, journalists, ad agencies, large newspapers, local sign makers…).
Again… you, the end user, are not the customer. The advertisers are the customers.
Forty-four percent of small to medium businesses started or increased their usage of personalized ads on social media during the pandemic, according to a new Deloitte study. Without personalized ads, Facebook data shows that the average small business advertiser stands to see a cut of over 60% in their sales for every dollar they spend.
In other words… once users understand what Facebook is doing, most will opt out?
Update May 12, 2021: it looks like the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. In the first week of 14.5 rollout, 96% of users are choosing to opt out. Should I feign surprise?