Chart Of The Day: Facebook Loses Public's Confidence And Technical Support

 | Dec 23, 2020 14:54

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) just can’t get catch a break. But then maybe, at least according to some, they don't deserve to.

Even after years of being accused of user privacy abuses , along with a number of data breach scandals in which the social media behemoth was involved, CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains surprisingly sanguine, and unapologetic.

The latest black mark against the Menlo Park, California-based company comes from a lawsuit filed last week by 10 US states, alleging the company made a pact with Alphabet's Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in 2018, "in which Facebook agreed not to compete with Google’s online advertising tools in return for special treatment when it used them."

Now, Facebook is going after Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), claiming they are doing so as a way of standing up for small business. Interesting timing, to say the least.

Zuckerberg is unhappy that Apple has given its users a choice to opt-out of having their online searches tracked, a common device used by internet companies to target their advertising.

Facebook's stance is based on a Deloitte study which found that on average, small business advertisers would lose more than 60% of their sales relative to their advertising investment without targeted placement. As well, Facebook claims that, while an opt-out feature will also hurt their revenue, they're really only standing up for small businesses that will be devastated by the move.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation , a non-profit digital rights group, “founded in response to a basic threat to speech and privacy," sides with Apple on this one, saying “Facebook's laughable campaign" is really anti-users and small businesses.

The antitrust lawsuit as well as what looks like a renewed wave of investor disgust at the company's latest, high profile but questionable tactics appear to be driving a selloff.