On May 4, InMobi hosted an eMarketer webinar titled " It’s Here—What to Do About Apple’s ATT and IDFA Deprecation.” The webinar covered all of the changes coming with Apple’s iOS 14.5, their latest mobile operating system version, and their new AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework. Featured speakers included Robyn Meyers, VP of West Coast Brand Partnerships at InMobi, Sergio Serra, Group Product Manager of InMobi’s SSP business, and Lauren Fisher, EVP of Business Intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions.
If you missed the webinar, then be sure to check out the recording and presentation:
With iOS 14.5, Apple is enforcing ATT, which requires app publishers and developers to obtain users’ direct consent before sharing their data with advertisers. These changes will have a profound effect on in-app advertising in the Apple ecosystem, as mobile programmatic advertising was previously underpinned by user-level targeting. As a result, it’s critical that all stakeholders understand what Apple is enforcing and how to respond.
This May 4 eMarketer Tech-Talk Webinar highlighted the changes coming with ATT, how advertisers are currently thinking about Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) and the best path forward. Specifically, the webinar covered how iOS 14.5 changes the status quo and impacts advertisers, app developers, and users; what the ATT framework stipulates, and what is and isn’t allowed by Apple; best practices for advertisers to reach consumers in iOS environments and insights from Advertiser Perceptions on advertisers’ ATT preparedness.
During the webinar, a number of great questions came in from the audience. Since we didn’t have a chance to answer all of them during the webinar, we wanted take time to answer them here.
Q1: What is the level of opt-outs for app tracking in the current environment? And do you specific projections for how it will change with ATT?
A1: Prior to iOS 14.5, Apple had a Limit Ad Tracking (LAT) feature, through which users could select to not share their data for advertising purposes across all apps on their device. In 2020, about 30% of all iOS users had selected LAT. Once iOS 14.5 is fully live, we expect around 20% to 25% of all users will explicitly opt in – meaning that 80% of users will essentially have LAT functionality enabled on some or all apps on their device. Of course, it’s still quite early at this stage, so we won’t know what the total opt-in rates will be once the vast majority of users have iOS 14.5 or higher on their iPhone or iPad.
Q2: Are these changes retroactive? Meaning, are we able to target audiences that were built out prior to the roll out of ATT?
A2: Yes, these changes are retroactive. If a user opts out of having their individual device identifier (IDFA) shared, then audiences that were previously developed using IDFAs will no longer be able to be used.
Q3: You say, for "re-targeting you must have an opt-in." I thought you were able to re-target anyone who visits your site –– without an opt-in? Yes/No?
A3: It’s important to distinguish between how browser-based advertising works versus how in-app advertising works. Unlike browser-based advertising, in-app advertising does not use cookies. As such, how retargeting works in the web world is inherently very different than how it works in apps.
That being said, in-app retargeting will no longer be possible in iOS for users who do not opt in. Retargeting in app is based on individual device identifiers, so it will only be possible going forward on Android and for those who opt in to IDFA tracking.
Q4: Are advertisers allowed to offer an "incentive" for an opt-in?
A4: Technically, according to Apple’s ATT guidelines, incentives to opt in are disallowed. However, some publishers are taking steps to explain to consumers how IDFAs are used and why they are helpful to their bottom line before displaying the required ATT opt-in popup. That being said, it remains to be seen how Apple will enforce the ATT framework and how strict they will be with the independent programmatic ecosystem.
Q5: What % of the market does Android have? Is it scalable to target only Android users?
A5: In North America, around 44% of all mobile devices use Android. With over 290 million mobile internet users in North America, that means there are around 158 million people that can be targeted at the device level (either because they have an Android device or they have opted in to sharing IDFA). While iOS will remain the largest and most valuable mobile audience for advertisers, there still is a large audience that can be found on Android.
This is to say nothing of Android’s reach globally. In many large and growing markets internationally, Android remains far more popular than iOS.
Q6: What are your thoughts on custom audiences and lookalikes vs. Contextual?
A6: In a post-IDFA world, advertisers will invariably use different types of targeting for their in-app ad campaigns. For some brands and agencies, contextual-led campaigns will make the most sense, while for others cohort-based targeting will provide most valuable when it makes sense. It is important to note that any lookalikes or other custom audiences based on device-level identifiers will of course not be available to use when users opt out of IDFA.
Nevertheless, once iOS 14.5 is live across most iOS devices, targeting for in-app advertising likely won’t be an either/or proposition. Rather, it’s likely that advertisers will use a variety of signals, including KPIs, contextual data, probabilistic insights, etc. to drive their campaigns. In-app advertising will be run through many different available data points.
Q7: How high will the price go for consented data?
A7: For the small segment of iOS users who already are running iOS 14.5 as of the day of the webinar, the eCPMs to reach people who have opted in are around 45% higher than the eCPMs being paid out to reach people who have opted out of IDFA tracking. Granted it’s still quite early, so it’s hard to determine where things will end up. We had early predicted that prices to reach opted-in users would command a 50% higher premium, and it’s easy to see that coming to fruition at this stage.
If you have any additional questions for us, please don’t hesitate to reach out! To contact us, just head here to get in touch.
We at InMobi are here to help you thrive in a post-IDFA world. To get started, check out our new playbook, Navigating ATT and iOS 14.5: What You Need to Know, wherein we provide concrete steps and tips for advertisers and publishers alike on what to do now that Apple is deprecating individual device identifiers. You can grab your complimentary copy of our playbook here.
Additional resources can be found in our Post-IDFA Resource Center for Advertisers and Publishers: inmobi.com/idfa. Here, we feature videos, Q&As and more that break down everything these changes entail and how they will impact different facets of in-app advertising on Apple devices. We’ll be continually adding new materials to this resource center, so be sure to bookmark inmobi.com/idfa to stay up to date.
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