This Feature Makes Apple Advertisers Leave

 

One of the new features in iOS 14 is App Tracking Transparency, which actually benefits users. However, this feature prevents advertisers from advertising on the platform.

When iOS 14.5 launched in April, Apple introduced the App Tracking Transparency feature, which works alongside a 'privacy nutrition label'. Now, a few months later, the effect of the presence of this feature is already visible.

In May, analytics company Flurry said nearly all (96%) iPhone and iPad users who updated their devices to iOS 14.5 did not activate the app tracking feature on their devices.

The effect? In late May, advertisers began moving their ad spend to Android.

Based on the latest report from the Wall Street Journal, this trend is now getting stronger as seen in the decrease in the rate of ads targeting iOS users and the increase in the rate of ads targeting Android users.

Then Branch Metrics says that now less than a third of iOS 14.5 users allow app tracking across all the apps they use. This figure is an improvement from Flurry's data which stated that only 4% of users gave permission to do so.

As of June 22, more than 70% of iOS users have updated their device's operating system to iOS 14.5 or 14.5.1. This data shows that the majority of iOS users are concerned about their privacy and do not want their activities on their mobile phones to be monitored by apps.

In another study conducted by Tenjin also showed that the number of advertisers on iOS decreased by a third in June, while the amount of money spent by advertisers on Android increased by 10% in the same period.

Meanwhile, a digital advertising agency called Tinuiti also sees the same trend. That's a trend of increased Facebook subscribers for Android and weaker advertiser growth on iOS, down from 42% in May to 25% in June.

The main reason advertisers are abandoning iOS is that they are missing out on the detailed data that makes advertising on iOS devices so effective and worthwhile. Conversely, ads on Android have become more valuable, and are now 30% more expensive than ads on iOS.