Snapchat Boss Says Apple Privacy Rules Are Hurting Ad Revenue

The CEO of Snap, the company behind the popular Snapchat social media platform, claims that Apple’s recently introduced App Tracking Transparency system is having a negative effect on his company’s revenue. Apple’s consumer privacy settings are impacting all tech companies reliant on advertising, including the Masters of the Universe at Facebook. The company’s stock is trading down more than 22 percent following the news.

9to5Mac reports that according to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, Apple’s recently implemented App Tracking Transparency system — which allows users to prevent third-party apps from tracking them — is negatively affecting Snap’s revenue.

Tim “Apple” Cook testifying via TV (Pool/Getty)

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 23: With an image of himself on a screen in the background, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill October 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. Zuckerberg testified about Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra, how his company will handle false and misleading information by political leaders during the 2020 campaign and how it handles its users’ data and privacy. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Interestingly, Snap was initially in favor of the new Apple policies but may have changed its opinion as the reality of Apple’s privacy policies sets in. Snap reported results for its fiscal 2021 fourth quarter with over $1 billion in revenue, however, this is $3 million less than the company expected. Following this news, the company’s stock has cratered more than 22 percent.

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel explained this, stating:

Our advertising business was disrupted by changes to iOS ad tracking that were broadly rolled out by Apple in June and July. While we anticipated some degree of business disruption, the new Apple provided measurement solution did not scale as we had expected, making it more difficult for our advertising partners to measure and manage their ad campaigns for iOS.

However, Spiegel was still not particularly critical of Apple’s privacy guidelines, stating that the changes are “really important for the long term health of the ecosystem and something we fully support.”

Snap isn’t the only tech firm affected by the recent changes to Apple’s privacy settings, Facebook was reported to be “panicking” about the loss in advertising revenue after Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature went live.

Snapchat Boss Says Apple Privacy Rules Are Hurting Ad Revenue – Stock Craters

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