Publishers, media outlets bracing for iOS 14 privacy features

Posted:
in General Discussion
A new suite of privacy features in iOS 14 has media outlets and digital publishers preparing and bracing for a dramatic drop in advertising revenue.

Credit: Apple
Credit: Apple


Among other privacy-related features, Apple's new iOS 14 update will make device identifiers -- critical for ad personalization -- opt-in for users on an app-by-app basis.

Many digital publishers are now concerned that the small change could result in a sizable drop in revenue from iPhone users, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The update concerns Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), a random identifier tag that Apple assigns to user devices. It allows advertisers to collect aggregate data without revealing a user's identity. And, in iOS 14, apps will need to explicitly ask users permission to whether to track them across other apps and websites.

"When every publisher is fighting for every last advertising cent, this couldn't come at a worse time," Daily Mail publisher Martin Clarke told the Journal. Clarke is referring to existing impacts felt by the publishing industry during coronavirus pandemic.

The prompt that users will see in iOS 14.
The prompt that users will see in iOS 14.


The pop-up prompt that publishers are worried about appears when a user opens an app for the first time after installing iOS 14. It prominently states that an app wants to track them "across apps and websites owned by other companies," and then asks whether a user wants to allow tracking or not.

"You're almost scaring the consumer into saying, Wait a minute. Am I comfortable with this?'" said Mark Wagman, managing director at MediaLink. Clarke said that the prompt "almost seems aggressively aimed at getting users to opt out."

Sheri Bachstein, head of consumer business at weather.com publisher Weather Co., estimates that the price advertisers are willing to pay could drop by as much as 40% because of the change. That's because advertisers are generally willing to pay more for ads tailored to a user's interest and behavior.

The impact may not be felt equally by all publishers, however. Insider Inc. publisher Peter Spande said that the privacy feature isn't "life-threatening" to large publications, but for smaller publishers, "this could be really destabilizing." More than that, the change will likely be felt further by outlets that have a large audience of iPhone users, as well as those that rely on automated, or "programmatic," ad sales.

On the other hand, BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti said that, in time, the industry will adjust. "There are trade-offs for publishers. More direct, contextual advertising in the long run, but short term it could reduce the spending of some programmatic advertisers," he told the WSJ

Apple's privacy features come at a tense time between the Cupertino tech giant and publishers. Earlier in August, a coalition of news publishers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal began pushing back against Apple's 30% commission on in-app purchases.

Technology platforms dependent on advertising, such as Facebook, have also cautioned partners about the feature and its probable impact to ad revenue.

Apple says the privacy mechanisms don't block tracking. According to the company, the features simply increase transparency and allow users more control over which platforms can track them.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    I will shed zero tears for advertising agencies.
    Dogpersonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 10
    Some of us have been wanting this and more for a long time. This is why we are happy to pay more for Apple devices than the competing cheap garbage.
    GabyDogpersonmatrix077BeatsDancingMonkeys
  • Reply 3 of 10
    rcfarcfa Posts: 1,124member
    "’You're almost scaring the consumer into saying, Wait a minute. Am I comfortable with this?' said Mark Wagman, managing director at MediaLink. Clarke said that the prompt ‘almost seems aggressively aimed at getting users to opt out.’”

    No shit Sherlock! Exactly that’s what it’s doing, and that’s exactly what it SHOULD be doing: warn people off information leeches!

    Bravo Apple!





    agilealtitudeDogpersonBeatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 10
    applguyapplguy Posts: 235member
    I get bored seeing the same ads over and over so I’m excited to see what non-personalized ads I’ll get.
    Beatswatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 10
    fred1fred1 Posts: 1,112member
    This is great and I hope it takes a long time for advertisers to find a way around it.  One reason I don’t watch television any more is because I’m tired of all the ads. There used to be a law in the EU that there couldn’t be ads during the news, but that went out the window. 

    Clarke said that the prompt "almost seems aggressively aimed at getting users to opt out."
    What?? So now freedom of choice is aggression?  Get a grip!
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 10
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    rcfa said:
    "’You're almost scaring the consumer into saying, Wait a minute. Am I comfortable with this?' said Mark Wagman, managing director at MediaLink. Clarke said that the prompt ‘almost seems aggressively aimed at getting users to opt out.’”

    No shit Sherlock! Exactly that’s what it’s doing, and that’s exactly what it SHOULD be doing: warn people off information leeches!

    Bravo Apple!






    If that isn't scary enough, something strange happened at work. A co-worker mentioned a brand I had no interest in. We were just chatting. The next day my work computer was bombarded with ads from that brand. Strange.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 10
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    Of some note Apple's first-party IDFA tracking and ad program won't require any approval from the user, and as far as I know you are automatically "opt-in" as the default. If you don't want to be tracked for ads you will need to actively locate the setting and opt-out. The warnings will only pop-up for third party programs.

    Since surveys show only 30% of users make any changes at all to the defaults those settings are a powerful tool for Apple.
    edited August 2020
  • Reply 8 of 10
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,109member
    I guess companies will just have to re-acclimate themselves to a world where you can’t as easily snoop on strangers at a massive scale. They survived it before, they can survive it again. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 10
    ID0XID0X Posts: 8member
    Not seeing adds already for some 3-4 years after I installed KA-Block! app. (Guys please update also the iOS version)
    Happy to get rid of trackers with Apple tool as the tracking blocking apps many times are doing other hidden things...

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 10
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    A couple of points. 

    The pop-up prompt that publishers are worried about appears when a user opens an app for the first time after installing iOS 14. It prominently states that an app wants to track them "across apps and websites owned by other companies," and then asks whether a user wants to allow tracking or not.

    "You're almost scaring the consumer into saying, Wait a minute. Am I comfortable with this?'" said Mark Wagman, managing director at MediaLink. Clarke said that the prompt "almost seems aggressively aimed at getting users to opt out."


    The smaller second paragraph in the dialog box is set by the developer. This is where you put the text explaining why the user would accept tracking. For example: “Tracking your usage allows us to provide this game for free.”

    Secondly, Apple is encouraging the advertisers to move to their new SKAdNetwork framework, which provides usage data without tracking individual phone identifiers. 
    bestkeptsecretwatto_cobra
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