Apple's introduction of AppTrackingTransparency in iOS 14.5 changed how the mobile app industry approaches monetization and measurement. Here’s what you should know about the changes, along with best practices for mobile publishers and advertisers.

AppTrackingTransparency isn’t the death knell some feared: Just under half of all users have consented to tracking, far above initial estimates.

The rollout of AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) in iOS 14.5 effectively deprecated the primary way publishers and advertisers track users on iOS and changed how the mobile ad industry approaches monetization and measurement.

Advertising on Facebook has become more challenging due to Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency framework in iOS 14.5. Here’s how advertisers are adapting their strategies in the post-IDFA reality.

Since Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework in iOS 14.5 took effect in late April, Facebook has experienced steadily worsening data loss as iOS users have adopted the update.

Apple’s mid-2021 implementation of its AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework and Google’s planned deprecation of cookies in its market-leading Chrome browser are forcing advertisers to rethink how they target and measure ads. This is a gradually unfolding process, with new approaches evolving as practitioners adapt to the changes.

The trend: Apple’s launch of AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) in iOS 14.5 has started to reshape digital advertising and is affecting mobile app publishers’ and advertisers’ monetization models, budget allocations, and measurement strategies. Our recently published report had the following findings:.

Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework has severely dampened campaign measurement and performance for many social advertisers. Video ads could mitigate some of that impact, particularly as attention-grabbing, scroll-stopping creative becomes a must in an iOS 14.5 reality. How are advertisers approaching video advertising on social networks?

Meta, Snap, Twitter, and YouTube collectively lost an estimated $9.85 billion in the second half of 2021 because of Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) implementation, according to Lotame data cited by the Financial Times on October 31, 2021, corroborating the IAB and Ipsos findings. Three of those companies—Meta, Snap, and Twitter—directly attributed business losses to Apple’s privacy reset.

Google’s plans to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome and Apple’s introduction of the AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework are just the latest of the major milestones in the slow demise of third-party identifiers. At the end of 2020, we predicted that a US federal privacy law reminiscent of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) would pass in 2021.

It also required privacy “nutrition labels” for apps, which listed the type of information being tracked. iOS 14 also introduced AppTrackingTransparency (ATT), which created an opt-in for sharing any personal data collected by an app, including location, with third parties. iOS 15 (2021): This update added App Privacy Reports, which shows exactly the type and frequency of tracking that an app does.

The early 2021 arrival of Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework limited the collection of iOS user data, effectively making the personalized advertising that has driven app economies much less cost-effective. Some app developers—particularly those in the gaming category—have banked on consumers’ increased comfort with subscriptions as a result.

Beyond the chart: In spite of the ad spending surge on Android, Meta has been hit hard by Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency framework. Meta no longer receives data on the off-platform activities of Facebook and Instagram users who have opted out of tracking on devices running iOS 14.5 or later versions.

In March, just over half of email opens worldwide came from Apple devices using Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), a feature released in September 2021 that prevents email senders from receiving data on Mail app users’ device usage, among other information. About one-third of opens came from webmail, while the remaining slice was split fairly evenly between desktop and mobile.

Google’s plans to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome and Apple’s introduction of the AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework are just the latest of the major milestones in the slow demise of third-party identifiers. At the end of 2020, we predicted that a US federal privacy law reminiscent of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) would pass in 2021.

What this means: The service revenues only reinforce what many marketers already knew: Apple itself is benefiting from its AppTrackingTransparency privacy changes last year, even as publishers and advertisers struggle with it.

Article: Advertising is still recovering after a year of AppTrackingTransparency. Article: Nearly half of US consumers have been served incorrect ads.

Businesses including Meta, Snap, and YouTube have already cited losses from Apple’s launch of AppTrackingTransparency in iOS 14.5, and Meta estimated that the privacy changes could cost it $10 billion just in 2022. Citing solutions: The number of companies offering identity solutions as consumer privacy concerns ratchet up has expanded.

The trend: Apple’s launch of AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) in iOS 14.5 has started to reshape digital advertising and is affecting mobile app publishers’ and advertisers’ monetization models, budget allocations, and measurement strategies.

It has been heavily marketing a commitment to privacy in combination with AppTrackingTransparency, for instance. That could be a key reason why consumers are flocking to its wearables rather than competitors’ like Samsung. About 39% of health consumers say the biggest drawback of wearables are their security vulnerabilities with sensitive health data, per a recent survey by Software Advice Research.

Thanks to its brand recognition and established user trust, Apple’s privacy labels and App Tracking Transparency framework are setting standards for privacy and data sharing as well as causing an opt-in paradigm shift in the industry.

As of November 2021, 62% of iOS users are opting out of data tracking after Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency update.

Advertisers' most-used identifier, the third-party cookie, is going away in less than a year. Mark Connon, general manager at identity graph provider Tapad, joins eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to discuss the difference between identity and identifiers, why the digital media ecosystem should be prepared to work with several identifiers going forward, and what will happen when Apple's AppTrackingTransparency framework rolls out.