Business owners weigh privacy concerns and ads

NEW YORK -- Some small businesses that use Facebook ads to promote themselves and attract new customers are wrestling with whether they need to change strategy after the company's data-misuse scandal.

The revelations Cambridge Analytica gathered personal information from 87 million Facebook users made some people and small businesses jittery. Small business owners don't want customers to draw any connection between their ads and Cambridge Analytica, or to be unnerved by how their data is used.

But even wary owners, especially those trying to reach a wide audience on a small advertising budget, say they need to go where their customers are -- and for many, that's Facebook.

"While I considered deleting Facebook, I understand the importance and reach Facebook has to keep an open channel of communication with our customers," said Mike Seper, owner of Eco Adventure Ziplines. The company, based in New Florence, Missouri, operates adventure rides for people to glide along cables suspended 50 or 250 feet above the ground.

Seper is concerned Facebook users, seeing his ads and then viewing other users' political posts or ads, might mistakenly assume they're connected. "We just don't want that association," said Seper, who had been doing most of his advertising on Facebook. He'll still post videos on his company's Facebook page, but will advertise instead on Google and use more traditional methods including postcards, brochures and print ads.

Small-business owners also need to keep in mind many people are newly aware of data issues or more cautious about their online behavior.

Breakout, which operates 44 "escape room" game locations, is reducing its use of reminders Facebook sends to people who start but don't complete a booking. The strategy does persuade many people to book another time slot -- but it might also make them feel like they're being tracked, digital marketing director Drew Roberts said.

"People who aren't familiar with how it works may be a little turned off," Roberts said.

Breakout also has cut its Facebook advertising budget by 50 percent in response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but it's not going to abandon an effective method of reaching out to customers.

"It excels for us when we're opening new locations," Drew said. Like other advertisers, Breakout can take advantage of the data Facebook has available to target specific demographic groups and geographic areas, ensuring it will reach people most likely to be interested in what they're selling.

Facebook has apologized to those whose data was misused, and says it's restricting app developers' access to people's information. The company has 10 million small businesses with Facebook pages in the U.S. and 6 million advertisers, most of them small companies; CEO Mark Zuckerberg was quoted earlier this month as saying he doesn't believe the company has seen a meaningful impact on ad spending from the scandal.

Facebook spokesman Joe Osborne acknowledges the concerns of some owners, including those targeting ads to specific groups, but said Facebook doesn't share their information or that of their customers with anyone.

"Protecting people's information is a top priority," Osborne said Wednesday.