Facebook Claims CCPA Won't Crimp Its Web Tracking; Adobe Surges On Magento Sales

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Hard Sell

Facebook has told advertisers it won’t need to change its web-tracking services to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), on the grounds that its use of data to target ads doesn’t constitute “selling” data. Starting January, when the law comes into effect, users in California will be presented with a pop-up option to disable the site from selling personal information and web tracking. Google, for its part, has updated its consent policy to interpret a “no” from a user as not having consent for data collection. Facebook maintains that its site and app pixel tracking isn’t the same as selling data – the data doesn’t leave Facebook, after all. The law is frustratingly hazy on the issue, defining a “sale” as a transfer of data in exchange for monetary or other valuable consideration. Smaller players in digital advertising are expected to follow in Facebook’s footsteps in regards to CCPA compliance, The Wall Street Journal reports. So Facebook’s stance on this issue could set up an early clash with the state attorney general. More.

Head In The Clouds

Adobe had a great Q4, with nearly $3 billion in revenue and a 24% annual growth rate to around $11 billion for the year. That’s thanks to three main factors: up- and cross-selling Magento, momentum at Marketo and growth in its new CDP business. “Every business has to think about its core segmentation and the way it’s creating unified profiles,” CEO Shantanu Narayen told investors on the company’s earnings call last week. “The Adobe Experience Platform is really the only scalable platform that allows people to have this unified profile.” That’s a pretty bold claim, considering Adobe’s not the only marketing cloud doing the CDP thing these days – everyone’s got one, from Salesforce to Oracle. Speaking of Oracle, cutting 10% to 15% of staff from Oracle Data Cloud in September helped stabilize what was “a very significant headwind for the business,” said CEO Safra Catz on the earnings call last week. And executive chairman Larry Ellison confirmed that Oracle will not be replacing Mark Hurd as co-CEO. “We have complete confidence in our existing management team,” he said. Read the results.

That Sweet VR Data

Facebook is extending its social media network to Oculus – and collecting Oculus data to inform ad targeting in the process. People who log into Facebook through Oculus will be able to chat with friends, join others in shared VR experiences, organize meetups, share photos and videos, livestream to Facebook and send links. What’s the trade-off? “As part of these changes, Facebook will now use information about your Oculus activity, like which apps you use, to help provide these new social features and more relevant content, including ads,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Those recommendations could include Oculus Events you might like to attend or ads for VR apps available on the Oculus Store.” Oculus users who do not want to share their data with Facebook can opt not to log into the VR platform through Facebook. Read more.

But Wait, There’s More