Meta says this is due to the reason that Apple has started to favour Google with its privacy policies rather than app-based platforms. Facebook is one of those app-based platforms. Meta’s chief financial officer (CFO) David Wehner informed that during the Q4 2021 results, it saw a low outlook and revenue impact than expected. Q4 means the fourth quarter for the companies or the last quarter of the financial year. He affirmed; Meta’s growth is expected to be “negatively impacted” by various factors. These factors include cost inflations affecting advertisers’ budgets and supply chain distributions. Also, CFO is terrified due to financial “headwinds” that are emerging due to the changes made by Apple in iOS.
Apple’s iOS 14.5 update
Apple released its iOS 14.5 update in April 2021. The update came with a feature known as App Tracking Transparency (ATT). This feature makes app makers to ask for the user’s permission in case they want to track user across iPhone services and apps. It is said that the feature has severely affected the digital advertising for tech giants.
Meta’s Chief Operating Officer on Apple’s iOS changes
Sheryl Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Meta. She stated that “Q4 was the first holiday season after Apple’s iOS changes, that had an adverse impact on every type of business especially, small business. This is because these small businesses are dependent upon advertising to expand. Also, she believes this to be a factor in 2022 as well. According to her, with these changes Apple has created two major challenges for advertisers.
The two factors:
David Wehner also said the company “faces a different set of restrictions from Apple”. This is due to the money amount that Google pays to be the default search engine on Apple’s device.
