Apple iOS14 Updates Impact for Advertisers

Lannie Byrd, Chief Operating Officer at MHP/Team SI discusses the latest Apple iOS 14 update and its impact on advertisers.

Apple rolled out its newest operating system, which includes the tech giant’s biggest privacy update ever. The update will require Apple users to opt-in for web and app activity tracking. That includes apps, like Chrome, Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms where you’re likely running ads. 

This has raised concerns that advertisers will no longer be able to measure the success of ads, optimize them and properly attribute any conversions. 

Here’s what we know so far: 

• Apple has said advertisers won’t notice as much of a change in the early weeks, as users slowly begin to adopt the new OS.
• Advertisers will not receive data for Apple users who opt-out.
• App owners will have to submit information explaining why you would like to track users. They’ve laid out the guidelines here (https://developer.apple.com/app-store/user-privacy-and-data-use/).
• Some apps, like Facebook and Instagram, have been bracing for this as early as the start of this year. 
  • Facebook has created a new method of tracking, that it calls Aggregated Event Management, that allows advertisers to set up up to 8 conversion events that the platform will use to optimize ads. There is some setup involved, but we can help with that!

And, here’s what I want to stress: 

• About 46.9% of smartphone users in the U.S. use an iPhone. That means, more than half are using Android devices, which are not affected — yet.
• These changes will NOT stop customers from converting. What it does do is it makes it harder for us to connect users’ ad intake with their purchases.
• This is the first crest of the wave in “cookieless marketing,” or the big changes that we’ve been seeing in third-party data. We know that Google has already announced similar plans scheduled for 2022.

Whitney Burgess

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