When Apple announced in June 2020 that they were changing their privacy settings, few were aware of the full implications. Even at the time of the release of these new privacy settings in April 2021, it made few waves in the media. Some changes in ad targeting behaviour were noticed and Facebook (sorry, Meta…) started to mention that this could affect their bottom line, but overall, the world was busy with other things.
In fact, it was not until Facebook announced the effects of this change on their business that the full scope truly came to light. That happened on February 3rd 2022 when Facebook announced weakened growth, partly as a result of the apple privacy changes, which the company estimated cost it $10 billion a year. Facebook shares immediately dropped 26% wiping $230 billion off its market value, the largest single day loss of value for a company in history.
