Facebook Ads: How iOS14 Affects Your Campaign Data

2 min read
Learn how Apple's iOS14.5 update affects data tracking and your Facebook Ads campaign metrics.

About the iOS14.5 Update

Apple's release of the iOS 14 impacted the way Facebook can process and receive conversion events from tools such as Facebook Pixel. Facebook Pixel tracks events on your site, such as views per product, purchases of a service, and more. Facebook Ads uses this Pixel data to gather metrics for your ad campaign.
The iOS14 update now requires every app in the app store to explicitly ask for a users' permission before continuing to track their activity online. You can learn more about what Apple refers to when they talk about 'tracking' here.

How the Policy Change Affects Your Campaign Data

Facebook Ads relies on Facebook Pixel to track visitors' movements around your site. If your target audience does not give their permission for tracking (selects Ask App Not to Track), Facebook Ads is limited on the type of personalization and reporting that can be done.
Essentially, Facebook Ads cannot track purchases attributed to your campaign for any site visitors who haven't allowed data tracking. This results in delayed reporting, as updating campaign metrics can now take up to 72 hours. 
After the iOS14 update by Apple, Facebook also announced upcoming changes to the way they will continue to track and process conversion events. Their solution has advertisers pick specific 'events' that should be tracked.

Understanding 'Events' on Facebook

An event is an action that happens on your site that is trackable by Facebook. Some examples of predefined Facebook events for both online stores and bookings sites include:
  • A customer adds an item to their shopping cart (for online stores)
  • A customer starts the checkout process
  • A customer makes a booking or purchase on your site
  • A customer adds their payment details for a product or service
  • A customer views a page on your site
Facebook Ads uses these events to track your website visitors' and interactions with your campaign and provide you with data. After the release of iOS14, Facebook is changing the way events are tracked to make sure you still get the information you need.

Continuing Event Tracking After the Facebook Change

The new Facebook policy requires two main things to keep your campaign running:
  1. Make sure your domain is verified: This is a mandatory step. When you set up your account with Facebook Ads with Wix we automatically verified your domain for you, so you don't need to take any further action here.
  2. Choose which events Facebook should track: You need to choose the 8 events that will be used for conversion tracking. If you do not select events, Facebook automatically assigns events for you. Learn How
Note:
Facebook's Conversion API (CAPI) is also subject to iOS14 changes and is not a solution for complying with the new policy.

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