Advertisers flee to Android as majority of iOS users opt out of ad tracking
According to data from the Post-IDFA Alliance, only 36.5% of iOS 14.5 users are opting in to ad tracking, which is causing an advertiser exodus to Android.
Advertisers increase spending on Android as iOS 14.5 blocks tracking
App Tracking Transparency is a feature introduced in iOS 14.5 that allows users to stop ad tracking across apps and the web. This controversial feature disables one of the widest used tracking identifiers -- IDFA.
A coalition of advertisers that call themselves the Post-IDFA Alliance collected their advertising data to compare how the market is shifting. The group includes AdColony, Fyber, Chartboost, InMobi, Vungle, and Singular.
Advertising spend on Android has increased from anywhere between 8.3% to 21% for these firms. This upward trend is accompanied by a universal decrease in spending on iOS advertising, but only by about 3%. Vungle is the only company that increased spend on both platforms, increasing by 21% on Android and 3.3% on iOS.
The group says the spending changes are experimental while observing trends in the industry. Ultimately, it is expected that ad spend will increase across the industry.
In the two weeks following iOS 14.5's release, the Post-IDFA Alliance says adoption ranged from 11.5% to 14.92% and called it a "low adoption rate relative to past iOS updates." The group's data on adoption rate does not appear to be correct -- the adoption rate is normal for a point release, incrementing a version by 0.1 update versus and may be slightly faster than the adoption rate from iOS 14.1 to iOS 14.2.
Of those updated to iOS 14.5, around 36.5% of users have opted into data collection, according to AdColony's data. One member of the Alliance, Singular, says only 16.8% of users opted in. About 18.9% of users toggled off "Allow Apps to Request to Track" from Settings entirely.
The rate of opt-in differs between each member, but between the high of 36.5% and the low of 16.8%, neither figure represents a worst-case scenario for the industry.
Ad impression costs are down as well. The industry expected a drop when iOS 14.5 released, but it may be temporary. Alliance partners predict that impression cost will steadily increase as marketers feel more confident with ad performance despite App Tracking Transparency.
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Advertisers increase spending on Android as iOS 14.5 blocks tracking
App Tracking Transparency is a feature introduced in iOS 14.5 that allows users to stop ad tracking across apps and the web. This controversial feature disables one of the widest used tracking identifiers -- IDFA.
A coalition of advertisers that call themselves the Post-IDFA Alliance collected their advertising data to compare how the market is shifting. The group includes AdColony, Fyber, Chartboost, InMobi, Vungle, and Singular.
Advertising spend on Android has increased from anywhere between 8.3% to 21% for these firms. This upward trend is accompanied by a universal decrease in spending on iOS advertising, but only by about 3%. Vungle is the only company that increased spend on both platforms, increasing by 21% on Android and 3.3% on iOS.
The group says the spending changes are experimental while observing trends in the industry. Ultimately, it is expected that ad spend will increase across the industry.
In the two weeks following iOS 14.5's release, the Post-IDFA Alliance says adoption ranged from 11.5% to 14.92% and called it a "low adoption rate relative to past iOS updates." The group's data on adoption rate does not appear to be correct -- the adoption rate is normal for a point release, incrementing a version by 0.1 update versus and may be slightly faster than the adoption rate from iOS 14.1 to iOS 14.2.
Of those updated to iOS 14.5, around 36.5% of users have opted into data collection, according to AdColony's data. One member of the Alliance, Singular, says only 16.8% of users opted in. About 18.9% of users toggled off "Allow Apps to Request to Track" from Settings entirely.
The rate of opt-in differs between each member, but between the high of 36.5% and the low of 16.8%, neither figure represents a worst-case scenario for the industry.
Ad impression costs are down as well. The industry expected a drop when iOS 14.5 released, but it may be temporary. Alliance partners predict that impression cost will steadily increase as marketers feel more confident with ad performance despite App Tracking Transparency.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get the latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
I use these kinds of services but don't rely on them and can adjust
I heard there may be a mass migration to iPhone and Apple Music(halo effect by Android users may convert them over). I wonder if this will balance off any negatives, if there even is any for Apple.
Personally I kind of like ads. Remember those ones that surrounded the entire screen with bars showing synchronized animations that Apple did in the Mac vs PC days? They were wonderful. I miss seeing them but I run an ad blocker all the time. I have never even once been asked by a web site why I run an ad blocker. The just whine at me to turn it off. Here are the reasons why I run an ad blocker even though I like ads:
1. There is no who guarantees that ads are safe and don't contain malware.
2. Ads are the #1 vector for malware including ransomware due to unsafe javascript.
3. Ads use 99% of the bandwidth on most web sites. A kilobyte of useful text and tens of megabytes of crap.
4. There are no industry rules for what an ad can do on your computer and no one to enforce the rules if they did exist.
5. Ads not only track you but keep finding ways to extract value from you that have nothing to do with advertising.
Anyway, their complaints are all nonsense. I was a web dev for major dot-coms during the first bubble, and we didn't have app tracking. We just had your basic banners, implemented on our sites via Doubleclick, we didn't have nearly all the various signals advertisers want today (we just thought it was cool enough to get the banner and side bar ads to match!), and it was fine. They'll live.
2. This makes me want Android more than ever.......not.
Advertisers will have to adapt. There may or may not be 'consequences' but if there are, consumers will have to adapt.
It can't be a free-for-all for advertisers in detriment to consumers.
The fact that you can't target them at an individual or class of users means you have to shotgun them to everyone in your target demographc - and Apple users in general are just plain more wealthy (and thus better prospects) than Android users.
This whole secretly track users and maintain secret profiles thing on ad tracking platforms is morally bankrupt.
After all, I've been arguing for years that Apple has the right to leave markets that make their business non-profitable, so I should feel the same way about website operators refusing to service iOS users for the same reason.
That isn't true. Lots of data still being collected on a given site, from what you searched for to what your public IP address is (if you have one), location, and other "generic" forms of data mining. What's dead as of 14.5 is web stalking.