Facebook Audience Network Felled by Apple's iOS 14

Facebook revealed how Apple's impending rollout of iOS 14 will impact its Audience Network business on Wednesday, a development that has upset media owners and measurement providers caught in the crossfire. The social network will stop collecting iPhone identifiers (IDFA) as part of a Facebook SDK overhaul next month as it prepares for the fall launch of Apple iOS 14, which will require users to opt-in to data-sharing. Pausing IDFA collection will hamper Facebook's ability to serve personalized in-app ads to iPhone users who upgrade to the latest version of the operating system, thus limiting its ability to charge higher CPMs. However, it will "disproportionately affect Audience Network," the social network's ad network for app developers and media owners that has historically relied on IDFA to target in-app ads to iPhone users. In a stark admission, Facebook claimed it "may not make sense to offer it on iOS 14." A blog post went on to state, "In light of these limitations, and in an effort to mitigate the impact on the efficacy of app-install campaign measurement, we will also ask businesses to create a new ad account dedicated to running app install ad campaigns for iOS 14 users." Limited initial impact The development adds to an earlier blow for Audience Network, which was forced to stop serving mobile web and in-app streaming ads via Audience Network earlier this year after updates to web browsers, such as Apple's Safari, made it harder to target users. While Facebook does not break out how much revenue it generates based on the back of IDFA collection or Audience Network, the company's CFO David Wehner acknowledged changes to iOS as "a challenging headwind" during its latest earnings call. One source, who requested anonymity in order to maintain an ongoing relationship with Facebook, said the language used in yesterday's Audience Network announcement was not indicative of a product that will be around much longer. A separate source, who made a similar request for anonymity, estimated that Facebook revenues generated by Audience Network probably amounted to little more than $1 billion last year, with revenues totaling $70.7 billion. Similarly, investors seemed unperturbed by Facebook’s IDFA warning, with the social network's share price closing at $303.91 per share, up from $284.00 at the opening of yesterday's markets. Diverging philosophies Meanwhile, Paul Bannister, CSO and co-founder of CafeMedia, said Facebook's latest Audience Network announcement demonstrated how Apple and Facebook have "two very divergent views" on data flow, with the former much more conservative. He said the social network's historic "fast and loose" approach to data, culminating in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, arguably led to Apple's zealousness. "While Facebook is a gatekeeper of communications in some ways, they're not an end controller of a platform like an OS provider [such as Apple] or web browser [such as Google's Chrome]," Bannister explained. "So, while Facebook will start to lose out with Audience Network, which is not a huge part of their business, it could eventually start to affect their [owned and operated] inventory." Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next (DCN), a trade organization that represents publishers including The New York Times, told Adweek that while Audience Network was a useful platform to monetize remnant inventory, it won't have a huge impact on DCN members' revenue. He also noted that Facebook should be more concerned about how iOS 14 will lead to a loss of data rather than the loss of Audience Network revenue. "This is about Facebook losing access to data. It's already been hurt by cookie depreciation, and it's going to be significantly impacted by Apple caring about privacy," said Kint. "There are actually improvements to CCPA coming on the November ballot that makes it clear that Facebook can't use data from other properties … that's the way the world is going." Publisher grievances Meanwhile, the development has raised the ire of both media owners that rely on Facebook Audience Network as a revenue stream plus in-app verification providers that rely on Apple's IDFA to measure ad performance for clients. Sources from within both app developers and legacy publishers told Adweek they are effectively caught in the crossfire between warring tech behemoths, both of which are facing antitrust scrutiny from governments. A source within DMG, which uses Audience Network to monetize its MailOnline iOS app and requested anonymity, told Adweek that it intends to raise complaints with the Department of Justice about Apple's iOS 14 restrictions. This comes as internal projections from the publisher of the DailyMail.com and DailyMailTV imply that the move could impact its iOS revenues by as much as 75%. "It's extraordinary that we all fall victim to clearly what is Apple's war with Facebook and Google," the source added. Media owners that rely heavily on programmatic advertising will feel the impact of iOS 14 more acutely compared to legacy publishers with diversified revenue streams. Additionally, Apple's iOS 14 update is likely to impact the ability of advertisers to measure campaign performance on iPhones. Alex Austin, CEO of Branch Metrics, a company that helps advertisers measure how ad campaigns drive app installations, said Facebook's announcement was a sign that iOS 14 has "gone too far" by disrupting the $45 billion in-app advertising industry. "Apple is disproportionately disrupting a vibrant app ecosystem by throwing the baby out with the bathwater," he said. "Our vision is to create a more fair and open ecosystem that is far too often dominated and controlled by these monopoly platforms." The cost of privacy Advertisers will also be challenged by iOS 14, which will also involve a transition to Apple's SKAdNetwork, an attribution tool that places greater restrictions on which measurement partners they can use to measure the effectiveness of app-install ads. Effectively, Apple must approve their privacy policies. The move has prompted fellow verification company Kochava, Inc. to update its policies to transition away from "static identifiers," such as IDFA or a third-party cookie, in exchange for "identity tokens" that use a more privacy-centric means of attributing app downloads to specific ad placements. "Kochava will be ready to support Facebook inventory conversion data related to SKAdNetwork and Facebook properties [after the latest update] upon availability of iOS 14," added Kochava CEO Charles Manning. Mark Douglas, CEO and president of digital media operatotr SteelHouse, noted how Apple's data curtailments involved in iOS 14 demonstrate a shift toward "anonymous targeting," a trend that further concentrates power in the hands of those with first-party data such as the walled gardens and result in price inflation. "It makes it harder to find a consumer," he said. "When a consumer buys a product, they're not just paying for it; they're also paying for the cost of selling the product."

The Future of Identity

Facebook Audience Network Felled by Apple's iOS 14

The development shines a light on the constraints of data privacy

Ronan Shields

Andrew Blustein

Rachel Winicov

Programmatic

Why Ad Fraud Rates Haven't Budged in 15 Years

Call for Nominations: 2025 ADWEEK Tech Stack Awards

This Is the Pitch Deck Kontext Used to Raise $10M to Power Real-Time Ads in AI Chatbots

Index Exchange Taps Trade Desk Exec Marybeth McGaugh, Plus 5 Other Industry Vets

TechMagic: AI Deepfakes, Danish Laws, Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest Zoom, Atari vs. ChatGPT

The Trade Desk Revenue Rises but Growth Slows and Stock Tanks 30%

Eric Dolan Named Head of North America at Bolt Insight

Google Wipes 350 Android Apps Tied to Ad Fraud Driving 1.5B Daily Bid Requests

Agentic AI Is Fast Approaching. Here’s How to Get It Right

Subscribe today!

$20

DIGITAL MONTHLY

$17

ANNUAL DIGITAL

$21

ANNUAL DIGITAL & PRINT