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Apple’s ad network gets ‘preferential access to users’ data’ vs Facebook, Google

(www.forbes.com)
113 points blinding-streak | 4 comments | 10 Aug 20 14:36 UTC | HN request time: 0.603s | source
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wutbrodo ◴[10 Aug 20 15:09 UTC] No.24110082[source]▶
I had a very brief stint working on mobile ads in 2011, so I have some vague familiarity with the sausage factory and its implications for user privacy on mobile devices, and this is par for the course for Apple. A big part of their marketing strategy is duping people into thinking they're pro-user, when they're one of the most aggressively anti-user companies I can think of. What's really impressive is how successful the reality distortion field has been in nominally technical fora (HN included, though it's gotten much better in the last few years).
replies(2): >>24110134 #>>24110600 #
1. sjroot ◴[10 Aug 20 15:14 UTC] No.24110134[source]▶
Apple may be certainly far from perfect when it comes to favoring their own software, but to say the company as a whole is aggressively "anti-user" is just hogwash.

Updates they have made to Safari, the App Store, and iOS generally have made millions of people more conscious of how applications they use every day consume and interact with their personal information. They've inspired other companies like Google to follow suit, and are having a huge impact on the targeted advertising industry.

Give credit where it is due.

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2. anoncareer0212 ◴[10 Aug 20 15:32 UTC] No.24110367[source]▶
Check into their ads data policy sometime - it's much, much, worse than the incumbents. but it's buried on the 3rd page of a PDF so they just got praise for releasing the PDF when it came out, only a few noticed
3. banachtarski ◴[10 Aug 20 15:55 UTC] No.24110628[source]▶
This is evidence of the reality distortion field.

It's like when they made the argument why Netflix/Spotify should pay them 30% of the proceeds of all sales because it's good for consumers and people actually bought it.

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4. dwaite ◴[10 Aug 20 20:54 UTC] No.24113864[source]▶
Except that isn't how it works. Both Netflix and Spotify had app versions which support in-app purchase and only the sign-ups in-app resulted in Apple getting a cut.

The problem both of these companies had was that the option to sign up in-app and have Apple manage the subscription was more popular than they hoped.