{"id":8731,"date":"2021-04-26T17:33:56","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T17:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customlytics.com\/?p=8731"},"modified":"2022-05-04T08:15:19","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T08:15:19","slug":"apple-att","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customlytics.com\/de\/apple-att\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple\u2019s ATT requirements come into effect: Here\u2019s what we know so far"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Author: Anna Priester<\/strong>
– Former App Marketing Content Specialist at Customlytics<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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There was a lot of uncertainty as to when Apple\u2019s IDFA changes in iOS 14 would come into effect \u2013 and now we know. It\u2019s been 10 months since Apple\u2019s first announcement about the iOS 14 App Tracking Transparency framework (ATT) and after last week\u2019s April Event \u2018Spring Loaded\u2019 they finally revealed when we can expect it. From the 26th of April, these new rules will apply: \u2018With the upcoming public release of iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5, all apps must use the AppTrackingTransparency framework to request the user\u2019s permission to track them or to access their device’s advertising identifier\u2019 (<\/em>Apple<\/span><\/strong><\/a>).<\/em>

When AppsFlyer<\/span><\/strong><\/a> <\/span>asked our CEO Christian Eckhardt and fellow industry experts when they thought Apple would launch ATT, Christian proved to be the closest with his guess of \u2018within 2021\u2019. Many in the industry had been expecting Apple to choose the 1st of April \u2013 it only seemed right. But that wasn\u2019t the case.
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Apple had postponed enforcing its IDFA restrictions in iOS 14 twice, meaning the industry had a little extra time to prepare and adjust to the challenges this change would bring. It would require major structural adjustments as to how they acquire users and monetise. Many advertisers were preparing for the worst.

This article doesn\u2019t aim to go through every detail about the latest developments \u2013 a lot of them are still undetermined anyway. Pre-ATT there was a lot of speculation as to what the industry would look like in an after-ATT world. Only time and real, valid generated data will tell.

But rather we want to give you a better idea of where the advertising industry is heading with the new ATT and its implications for mobile marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The IDFA – Standard for paid marketing on iOS since 2012<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In September 2012, Apple released iOS 6 which meant they could start tracking users so that advertisers could target them through a new tracking technology called IFA or IDFA. IFA or IDFA stands for \u2018The Identifier for Advertisers\u2019<\/em> and is a random device identifier assigned by Apple to a user\u2019s device (Adjust<\/span><\/strong><\/a>). It is used for tracking and identifying a user (without revealing personal information). The data generated is extremely valuable: it can be used to match a user across many apps and ad networks \u2013 from ad to in-app activity (e.g. purchase). It can also retarget users with advertising and create lookalike audiences of the best users. In short, the IDFA is a huge help to mobile marketers for two reasons: 1.) attribution<\/strong> \u2013 to measure their advertising and 2.) (re)targeting<\/strong> with customised ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How IDFA works. Source:<\/mark> AppsFlyer<\/strong><\/a><\/mark><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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IDFAs are one of the most precise ways to track a mobile advertising campaign on iOS, but there has always been an option to opt-out and as privacy issues have been rising over time, more users have made use of this.

Apple made sure to offer its users a way to not get tracked. With the so-called \u2018limit ad tracking\u2019 (LAT)<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, users can opt-out and their user information will be shown as blank. For mobile marketers, this means they can\u2019t show those users targeted ads. When LAT is switched on, attribution and conversion events (among other features) are switched off. As it stands, roughly 20% of iOS users cannot be tracked using the IDFA because they have enabled LAT (Adjust<\/span><\/strong><\/a>).

Now, with Apple\u2019s new ATT requirements, every app needs to request user consent to track their users\u2019 data upfront via a pop-up message within the app. This could look something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Source<\/span>: Apple<\/strong><\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Understandably, the advertising industry held its breath when Apple first announced the changes. They expected the worst, anticipating that the current 70% opt-in rate<\/span><\/strong><\/a> would drastically drop. \u2018The IDFA is dead\u2019 was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Implications for mobile marketing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the IDFA, mobile marketers have the opportunity to attribute ad spend. Together with a mobile measurement partner (MMP), app companies can connect a click on an ad with an eventual app install on a specific device. As a result, mobile marketers know that an ad worked and that whatever ad network they used for it was successful (Forbes<\/span><\/strong><\/a>). Without the IDFA, it\u2019s hard to make such conclusions as paid media attribution insights would be missing \u2013 owned\/non-paid media would be an exception.

In response to the attribution problem, Apple is offering their own aggregated solution: their SKAdNetwork<\/span><\/strong><\/a> \u2013 the ATT-compliant attribution method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SKAdNetwork is Apple\u2019s privacy-friendly way to attribute impressions and clicks to app installs on iOS apps. Conversion data gets shared with advertisers without revealing any user-level or device-level data (Digiday<\/span><\/strong><\/a>). Here\u2019s a graphic from Apple<\/span><\/strong><\/a> in which they outline the process of conversion tracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Source:<\/span> Apple<\/strong><\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Looks complicated? Well, it is\u2026 We\u2019re not going to cover the individual steps in this blog article but if you want to know more about it, feel free to contact us at contact@customlytics.com<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.

Let\u2019s focus on the practical side and what mobile marketers gain from SKAdNetwork and in which ways they\u2019re limited by it.

The upside of SKAD:<\/strong> Even though it\u2019s not as granular, it offers real insights into user behaviour on an aggregated level and it works for all users<\/strong> (opt-in, opt-out \u2013 LAT on or off) while maintaining privacy. As mentioned before, no user-level data gets exposed. 

The downsides<\/strong>: SKAD has a lot of limitations, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n