Apple placates mobile advertisers: iOS 15 will allow advertisers to get postback data directly from Apple, rather than going through an ad network—a huge help for marketers hungry for data in a post-IDFA world.

eMarketer was pleased to moderate a Tech-Talk Webinar featuring InMobi’s Robyn Meyers, vice president, West Coast brand partnerships, and Sergio Serra, senior product manager, SSP, along with Advertiser Perception’s Lauren Fisher, vice president, business intelligence. They highlighted the changes, how advertisers are currently thinking about Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), and the best path forward.

Neustar senior vice president of product and general manager of customer experience Steve Silvers and eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin discuss some misconceptions about cookie deprecation, what marketers should do to prepare for the loss of third-party cookies and react to the loss of Identifiers for Advertisers (IDFAs), and more about future approaches to addressability.

IDFA isn’t dead yet: New AppsFlyer data suggests that tracking opt-in rates could be much higher than the industry’s expectations, a spot of optimism that could make it worthwhile to keep collecting Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA).

Apple is facing yet another potential hurdle to IDFA: As Chinese tech companies work on a new way to track users on mobile devices, Apple will be faced with either barring a slew of Chinese developers altogether or forging ahead on a policy with no teeth.

Now, increasing restrictions on data collection, changes to Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), and the death of the third-party cookie will mean that winning brands must reduce their dependence on third parties, and place a greater focus on first-party data and owned channels. In short, they’ll need more direct-to-consumer (D2C) marketing, and less (though still plenty) advertising.

AppsFlyer also reported finding that IDFA availability could be affected by the way app developers set up their SDKs to load. If developers make sure to call their attribution SDK a few seconds after displaying the prompt, they can make sure to capture all possible IDFAs.

Apple has recently been pushing marketers to use its privacy-friendly framework, SKAdNetwork—but the feature has been limited in the past, and marketers didn’t have a lot of incentive to use it while the IDFA was still around.

As the digital landscape evolves, with third-party cookie deprecation on the horizon, and the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) becoming opt-in, achieving strong customer connections will become even more challenging.

The framework will require users to opt in before any app can collect the IDFA, a persistent mobile device identifier. Most in the mobile app industry expect opt-in rates to be low.

The situation on the iOS side differs because Apple will soon require each app to ask users if they would like to opt in to sharing the IDFA. Without an explicit opt-in to share an IDFA, app developers and advertisers won’t be allowed to do any type of user-level cross-channel tracking.

In a future without third-party cookies or the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), brands and publishers will increasingly need to reckon with and resolve consumer concerns as they pursue alternative strategies that require first-party data. Part of their response will require clearer messaging, but it could also mean offering users benefits in exchange for sharing data.

Most attention paid to iOS 14 is on the App Tracking Transparency framework, which will compel app developers to notify users if they want to track and share their data using Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA).

Although Apple’s removal of the IDFA will have a large impact on mobile advertising overall, it will have fewer repercussions for Facebook. That’s because of how the IDFA works. The IDFA can only be passed from the phone through an app, not through web browsing. A developer can associate a persistent device identifier (the IDFA) with any given instance of app usage.

Mobile games to stop targeting ads to kids: Some major developers and ad tech companies will need to stop tracking children under 13 after settling a lawsuit, limiting their targeting abilities.

Apple plans to roll out a major update to iOS this spring, requiring an opt-in before apps can track users across channels. "Behind the Numbers" host Marcus Johnson turns the tables on eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin to ask about the latest research on AppTrackingTransparency opt-ins, the China Advertising ID (CAID), and how advertisers are preparing.

But that doesn’t mean search is immune to the trouble caused by losing third-party tracking cookies or access to Apple’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA). Advertisers do use audience data layered on top of queries in some of their search advertising.

Blog responses from the mobile app community fell on a spectrum from “Apple killed the IDFA” to “IDFA is not dead yet, but it’s definitely on life support.”.

Without IDFA, advertisers will have less information with which to target their ads, and they will have less visibility into the activity that results from advertising.

The framework will require users to opt in before any app can collect the IDFA, a persistent mobile device identifier. Most in the mobile app industry expect opt-in rates to be low.

Apple’s iOS 14.5 privacy update and the absence of the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) is giving marketers cause to reconsider their measurement and attribution practices. And while challenging for marketers, Apple’s digital privacy shift aligns with consumer sentiment on personal data usage.