Advertisers criticize Apple for holding back customer targeting data in iAd campaigns

Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2014
Apple's refusal to open its vast trove of purchase data and demographic information to advertisers is said to be the principal factor inhibiting the growth of the company's nascent iAd platform.

iAd


Industry insiders likened Apple's strict data limitations to forcing "the best-looking girl at the party...to wear a bag over her head," according to a Tuesday report from Advertising Age. Apple offers advertisers the ability to target customers based on geography, purchase history, and media interests, but refuses to share the underlying data.

Compounding the issue, the data Apple does reveal cannot be fed into many agencies' automated ad-buying platforms. Apple's user tracking is not based on web browser cookies, so advertisers are unable to mix-and-match that information with data from other sources that use cookies to identify users.

Competitors like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo give advertisers a much deeper level of insight, though some say Apple's data is still the most valuable. Apple is "one of the best in terms of data quality and accuracy," AdMobius co-founder Dan Grigorovici said, "but I think Google is a little more open."

It is unclear how this might change if iAd's rumored shift to a real-time bidding system comes through. Such a change could lead to increased opportunities for advertisers to automate their iAd buys, making the service more efficient and financially viable for smaller advertisers.

Advertisers also complained about the frigidity of Apple's iAd sales team, a problem in the clubby advertising industry. Perhaps in a sign that Apple has not yet decided exactly what to do with the $250 million per year iAd business, it is thought that the company has not even given its staff sales targets.

"It's not their main focus to tell everyone in the world how amazing advertising in iAd is," GroupM executive Cary Tilds told the publication. "It's just not as loud."

The complaints come on the heels of an iAd reorganization that has seen the team's focus shift to selling advertisements on iTunes Radio, a directive thought to have come directly from software and services chief Eddy Cue. The company brought in former terrestrial radio executive Michael Pallad to head that team in December.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 89

    Breaking: Apple doesn’t share their users’ information with third parties; third parties upset

     

    Who gives a frick? This is only good news for Apple.

  • Reply 2 of 89
    1) In the long run, when people realise why this is a better practise than what Google does Apple will be the one to remain standing. Google can fall for all I care.

    2) Why does this iPad look like it's screen is about to pop out? Or is the user completely [I]immersing[/I] himself with the content¿
  • Reply 3 of 89
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    I have yet to see an iAd.

  • Reply 4 of 89
    Who gives a frick? This is only good news for Apple.

    Perhaps there are Google advocates on this forum that need to see the light? "I'll allow it"
  • Reply 5 of 89
  • Reply 6 of 89

    "best looking girl... wearing a bag... frigidity..."

     

    I can't decide if the author is being coy, or inadvertently projecting their own issues.  :p 

  • Reply 7 of 89
    These issues might be fatal for a company that makes most of its revenue from ads. Apple is not that company.
  • Reply 8 of 89
    Apple is attracting major advertisers.

    Google and Facebook are promoting garbage spam ads on the order of "One Weird Trick" which rely on pervasive privacy trampling.

    Ad agency shills rush to the media to tell things from their perspective: Apple is doomed because it doesn%u2019t give them full access to all user details.

    Sounds like the iTunes stories that were written ten years ago, complaining that Apple would fail because it wasn%u2019t giving the labels everything they asked for, including over the top DRM and spyware capabilities.

    Meanwhile, Apple%u2019s iAd brought in a sixth of Facebook%u2019s mobile ad revenue in 2013, and that%u2019s before iTunes Radio really started to gain traction.
  • Reply 9 of 89
    philboogie wrote: »
    Perhaps there are Google advocates on this forum that need to see the light? "I'll allow it"

    What light should those Google advocates see then? Do you even know what is talked about here? With deeper insights it is meant that advertisers can get aggregated none-personally identifiable information from Google. For things like trend analysis and stuff like that.
    If you ever read Google's privacy policy you would have known this. No personal data is shared without consent (exceptions: domain admins if necessary, external processing and legal reasons, which are the same exceptions as in Apple's policy) but what they can do is this: "We may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information publicly and with our partners – like publishers, advertisers or connected sites."

    Hate it when people criticize something without actually knowing what it is about. I know a lot of people on this forum see Google as evil, but let's be rational shall we...
  • Reply 10 of 89
    Looking forward to the CNBC spin on this one.
  • Reply 11 of 89
    philboogie wrote: »
    2) Why does this iPad look like it's screen is about to pop out? Or is the user completely immersing himself with the content¿

    It's not easy containing those big bottomed Brazilian girls. :lol:
  • Reply 12 of 89
    Apple is attracting major advertisers.

    They're the only ones that can afford to advertise to everyone instead of a specific demographic.
  • Reply 13 of 89
    I would much rather advertisers don't have access to my details thank you very much.

    Let's put it this way... I am not governed by advertising I'm governed by my needs or wants which often doesn't involve companies these advertisers are trying to push.

    Sure I'll look through the Mitre10 or Bunnings catalogue to see if they have specials on what I'm looking for but that's it. I'm not going to be persuaded by some crap.

    That being said if advertisers actually pushed iAds to its limits and gave us something cool instead of some dumb video for Clash of the Titans that I've seen a million times before (crap game by the way) then maybe I'd look at the ads more often and they'd make more money even if I don't purchase the product.
  • Reply 14 of 89
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

    "Perhaps in a sign that Apple has not yet decided exactly what to do with the $250 million per year iAd business, it is thought that the company has not even given its staff sales targets."

     

    I'm convinced that iAd was designed for TV from day 1.

    That would explain lots of iAd's history, right up to today.

    We won't see what iAd can really do until Apple rolls out its long-term TV strategy.

  • Reply 15 of 89
    chipsychipsy Posts: 287member

    Ad agency shills rush to the media to tell things from their perspective: Apple is doomed because it doesn%u2019t give them full access to all user details.

    I'm sorry we know this isn't true because they don't. Actually at least Google doesn't provide full access to all user details, no idea about Facebook though. Google's privacy policy doesn't allow for personal information to be shared without specific opt-in consent (exceptions: domain admins, external processing and legal reasons which are the same exceptions as in Apple's policy).

    What it concerns here is insight in aggregated non-personal identifiable information which Google is allowed to share. More open as in sharing aggragated anonymous data partners can work with.
  • Reply 16 of 89
    Apple should just ban any advertising platform from iOS except iAds ;)
  • Reply 17 of 89
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    I'm not going to be persuaded by some crap.

    I agree with you for the most part, there are products I've purchased that I had no idea existed if it wasn't for a advertisement. I don't particularly like advertisements, but I understand that it's essential for new businesses.
  • Reply 18 of 89
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post

     

    I'm convinced that iAd was designed for TV from day 1.

    That would explain lots of iAd's history, right up to today.

    We won't see what iAd can really do until Apple rolls out its long-term TV strategy.


    I think iAd was designed for mobile which is why iAd Developer projects are built with Javascript. 

     

    Perhaps Apple's rumored iTV will also run JS, who knows?

     

    Or maybe FCP X will get iAd developer functionality to produce video advertisements.

  • Reply 19 of 89
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    philboogie wrote: »
    Perhaps there are Google advocates on this forum that need to see the light? "I'll allow it"

    But your honor!
  • Reply 20 of 89
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Corrections View Post



    Google and Facebook are promoting garbage spam ads on the order of "One Weird Trick" which rely on pervasive privacy trampling.



     

    It's been shown time and time again that Google doesn't reveal personal information to advertisers.  I don't know whether or not Facebook does, but I doubt they would since that personal information is the base of the company's value.  A company won't relinquish its one and only resource.

     

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Corrections View Post



    Ad agency shills rush to the media to tell things from their perspective: Apple is doomed because it doesn%u2019t give them full access to all user details.

     

    I don't see any doom and gloom in this article, but feel free to inject so you can write another scandalous piece on Apple's latest "enemy."

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