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Zuckerberg: Apple's ad-tracking block will impair COVID-19 economic recovery

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called out Apple for how he claims the ad tracking block in iOS 14 will damage economic recovery from COVID-19 for years to come.

During Facebook's legally-mandated financial earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg repeated the company's previous criticism of Apple, and said its actions will harm small businesses trying to recover from the coronavirus situation.

According to Business Insider, the earnings call saw Zuckerberg singling out Apple's plan to require users to specifically allow ads to tailor advertising by tracking them.

"[The] actions planned by platform companies like Apple could have a meaningful negative effect on small businesses and economic recovery in 2021 and beyond," said Zuckerberg. "[Currently] personalized advertising is helping small businesses find customers, grow their businesses and create jobs."

While Zuckerberg specifically spoke of Apple adversely affecting small businesses, Facebook itself carries advertising from many such firms. He said that this will make Apple's move a "big challenge" for Facebook.

Apple had previously planned to roll out the new feature in September 2020, but has now delayed it until early 2021. During the earnings call, Zuckerberg says this means that Facebook won't feel the impact until the first quarter of 2021.

Separately, a coalition of advertisers and publishers in France have been pressing their government's antitrust division over the same issue. They hope to force Apple to delay the feature still longer.



33 Comments

docbburk 109 comments · 7 Years

Zuckerberg is so FOS.  There is a punishment for lying to Congress.  The master fibber is due. 

mjtomlin 2690 comments · 20 Years

This guy!!!  :D

Zuckerberg: Apple's ad-tracking block will impair COVID-19 my economic recovery


There. Fixed!

pizzaboxmac 34 comments · 4 Years

What kind of cheese do you want with your wine Marc? The whole economy doesn’t revolve around you.

rob53 3312 comments · 13 Years

The only economic recovery it will damage is Facebook's, and it's about time. The whole model of Facebook is wrong. It was supposed to be a social network not a way to grab advertising dollars along with personal information. If he was actually honest, he'd take a pay cut, give more to the advertisers and reduce or totlly stop the collection of personal information. Facebook as a platform can be rebuilt without all the advertising.

williamlondon 1426 comments · 14 Years

Howdy Pootie is so upset he can't continue violating the privacy of billions of people so he can become even more obscenely wealthy by manipulating people into buying things they neither need nor want, as well of course as convincing people to believe false is true. You, MFer, are a pox on life, just STFU.

Boo effing hoo.

Facebook needs to die.