{"id":5739,"date":"2021-04-01T11:20:46","date_gmt":"2021-04-01T15:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acaweb.ca\/en\/?p=5739"},"modified":"2021-04-01T11:20:46","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T15:20:46","slug":"what-apples-ios-identifier-change-really-means-for-marketers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acaweb.ca\/en\/2021\/what-apples-ios-identifier-change-really-means-for-marketers\/","title":{"rendered":"What Apple\u2019s iOS Identifier Change Really Means for Marketers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PersonThe iOS portion of the Canadian mobile advertising industry, estimated at $5.9 billion in 2019<\/a>, is substantially underwritten by a 36-character ID. The simplicity of the Identifier For Advertisers (IDFA) belies its utility — use cases from retargeting, to frequency capping to attribution all have critical dependencies on this identifier. <\/p>\n

Apple threw the mobile marketing industry into turmoil when they announced in June of last year that the IDFA would be placed under a permissioning model, the Ads Tracking Transparency framework (ATT). In a step unusual for Apple, the initial September 2020 release was pushed back to \u201cearly Spring\u201d of this year. Rumors of further delays have circled, potentially in response to lagging developer adoption<\/a> and threats of new tracking vectors<\/a> developed in mainland China. <\/p>\n

Why should asking users for permission cause so much chaos? The ATT prompt<\/a> itself seems designed to discourage users from opting-in; each app must request permission to access the IDFA using a standardized, somewhat intimidating dialog: \u201cApp would like permission to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies\u201d. And apps have a single opportunity to request permission, if the user declines access, there is no second chance and no ability to gate content or services as a result of the user\u2019s selection. Early surveys<\/a> indicate over 60% of users will opt-out of tracking, about the same amount that opted-out of location data collection when new transparency features came into effect. Assuming the IDFA offers effective utility, the loss of that much data will result in lowered efficiency in addressing Apple users. <\/p>\n

What is a savvy marketer to do in light of these changes? You may benefit from Apple\u2019s re-introduced, highly-complex SKAdnetwork<\/a> when you measure app install conversions. Participating applications and Mobile Measurement Partners (MMPs) will be able to generally attribute app installs to clicks (and soon views), with a number of privacy-preserving caveats. For some app-to-web conversion events, Apple\u2019s Private Click Measurement<\/a> may fit the bill. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say that app installs aren\u2019t your only or primary objective — unfortunately, Apple hasn\u2019t provided much in the way of tooling or recommendations. Third-parties have stepped up, investing in providing richer contextual signals<\/a> and novel approaches<\/a> that play by Apple\u2019s new set of ATT-enforced rules. Apple and independent players alike can be expected to continue to refine and introduce new solutions after IDFA restrictions go into place. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s clear is this: there isn\u2019t a silver bullet to address \u201closing\u201d the IDFA. Every marketer will need to re-evaluate how to engage with users on mobile and ensure that they have the tools and flexibility to respond to major changes in mobile. Here are a few \u201cno-regrets\u201d steps that every marketer should take:<\/p>\n