After Months Of Bitter Fighting, Zuckerberg Now Sees Facebook Benefiting From Apple's Privacy Rule Changes

After having bitterly criticized Apple Inc.’s AAPL upcoming privacy updates to its iOS 14 operating system for months, Facebook Inc. FB CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that his social media company will be “in a good position” when Apple enforces the rules.

What Happened: In a clubhouse meeting on Thursday, Zuckerberg said the privacy changes could benefit Facebook if more businesses decide to sell goods directly through Facebook and Instagram, according to a report by CNBC.

Apple’s privacy changes could make it harder for business to use their data to find customers who would want to use their products outside of Facebook’s platforms, the social media company's CEO added.

See Also: Mark Zuckerberg Says Apple One Of Facebook's Biggest Competitors Now

Why It Matters: Facebook has previously campaigned against the proposed changes to Apple’s iOS by taking the stand that it is against small businesses. Earlier this month, Zuckerberg noted that the privacy changes would make it harder for small businesses to reach customers using targeted advertising.

The privacy rule changes will result in user permission becoming mandatory for displaying targeted advertisements, according to Apple. Facebook will thus be required to gain user permission before accessing an iPhone’s advertising identifier or IDFA, which is used by companies selling mobile ads to help target ads.

Facebook said in August last year that Apple’s privacy changes will impact targeted advertising on its platform and it observed a 50% drop in Audience Network publisher revenue in its testing. Facebook is the second-largest recipient of advertisement revenues after Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL.

See also: How To Buy Facebook Stock

Price Action: Facebook shares closed 1.9% lower on Thursday at $278.62, while Apple shares closed about 3.4% lower at $120.53.

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