Facebook Bashes Apple in Full-page Newspaper Ads

On Wednesday and Thursday, Facebook (ironically) took out full-page ads this week in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. The purpose? Apple-bashing. FB says forthcoming privacy changes in iOS 14 will hurt small businesses and creators...and “change the internet as we know it—for the worse.”

Let’s turn down the PR knob

Apple is prepping a software update that alerts users of apps’ data tracking capabilities—and lets them opt out. That will materially impact FB by reducing data collection and ad targeting.

Apple says it’s a pro-consumer move. Maybe so, but it’s also one that will help a certain someone’s competitive moat. Many apps will have to pivot from ad to subscription models, and in turn, pay the App Store’s 30% cut.

• FB also said it’s pitching in for Epic Games’s legal battle against Apple (which Spotify and Match Group have applauded).

Big picture: Once upon a time, Big Tech companies carved up their own fiefdoms and largely left each other alone.