Facebook’s Data Crackdown Has Two Winners: Facebook and Google

Facebook Inc. is putting tighter controls on data flowing through its giant social network in response to the worst privacy crisis in its history. Rather than hurt the company, this will ultimately give Facebook and rival Google more power over a digital advertising market they already dominate, industry executives and analysts say.

The crackdown started last week after revelations a consulting firm that worked on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign improperly accessed information on millions of Facebook users. The first victims were data brokers like Acxiom Corp. and Oracle Corp.’s Data Cloud that sell information marketers use to target ads on the world’s largest social network. Facebook is scrapping the targeting tool and will stop sharing anonymous information the brokers use to measure ad performance.