Facebook ad business hit by new Apple privacy rules

Facebook said Wednesday that Apple’s iPhone privacy changes, which allow users to block tracking, significantly affected its advertising revenues because less data could be collected.

The move by Apple earlier this year has sparked a rift with Facebook and other tech rivals and could have major implications for data privacy and the mobile ecosystem.

Facebook had already indicated that the features to boost user data protection in the update launched in late April would hit its ad revenues, but it offered more detail in a blog post.

“We’ve heard from many of you that the impact on your advertising investment has been greater than you expected,” wrote Facebook’s product marketing VP Graham Mudd, addressing advertisers.