Facebook’s Targeted Ads

Facebook is upset with Apple because the latter, with the privacy changes (improvements?) it has made to its upcoming iPhone software, will greatly hinder the former’s ability to generate targeted ads on apps outside of Facebook’s.

Note, though: Facebook can’t deliver targeted ads without first tracking us.

Apple’s move, then, to the extent Facebook’s characterization is accurate, can’t be all bad on two counts: users won’t be limited in what they see regarding specific products or products in general, which is what targeted ads do, and users won’t be tracked as effectively, which is another purpose of ad targeting.

But, Facebook complains, Apple’s software changes

will affect its Audience Network business….

It’ll affect one of Facebook’s business models.

Willy Sutton’s business model was to go where the money is. Go there often. Maybe he should have been left alone, too.

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