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By limiting iOS apps' ad tracking capabilities, Apple could see increased commissions from IAPs and subscriptions if developers start charging for apps

as every company involved in advertising will be forced to learn the new rules https://www.ft.com/... Neil Shah / @neiltwitz : Great reporting! Software has been eating the world but nothing is foolproof & ad-tech companies will find holes to target users. Great to see @Apple fight for the privacy but also have full control over the monetization & not leaving money on the table with 1Bn affluent base. https://twitter.com/... Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : It's taken me a while to understand this but @facebook is unlikely to be hurt by Apple's move. Yes, they need to rebuild their ad infrastructure b/c attribution becomes difficult, but 1st-party data now becomes paramount. Facebook has 2.7bn users. They will thrive. Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : Bigger is better because of the IDFV, or ID for Vendors, which app developers still get when users opt out of IDFA. It's a string of numbers that are consistent among apps with the same owner. Someone like @zynga with ~500 apps in the App Store likely comes out swinging. Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : In the scenario where groups successfully get around Apple's rules, then its privacy push becomes a marketing gimmick - the illusion of privacy, not the real thing. It's not clear (yet) Apple is prepared for the massive auditing to come. Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : In addition to entrenching big companies, the risk for Apple is that it may have created an enforcement nightmare. The digital ads industry is bigger than Apple, by revenue. Some will die. They won't die quietly. They'll circumvent, undermine in all kinds of ways. Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : That's why @Google's reaction was to shrug. It has a massive trove of data on its users. Google does not even plan to prompt its iPhone users about being tracked — instead it will cease to rely on a user's IDFA altogether Zach / @zachshakked : I think one thing Apple underrates - all the big companies driving App Store revenue can afford to build web checkout flows. People run app ads because they work. If they stop working b/c of tracking - spend will shift to web-based checkout. All the big players do this already. Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : Losing access to third-party data is damaging to Google and Facebook, but if all of their rivals lose that access, too, then Whoever has the Most First-Party Data Wins. And that's Google and Facebook. (Also, and you'll be shocked by this: Apple) Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : Apple's policy does nothing about first-party data, so when an iPhone owner uses Google Search, Maps, Chrome, Gmail or YouTube, Google can still use that information to build ad profiles, unencumbered. Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : Rival @AppLovin is doing the same. It purchased @adjustcom for $1bn. CFO Herald Chen told me that Apple's privacy push should help it at the expense of rivals. “We believe having access to that first party data will enable us to manage through these changes rather well.” Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : Glu realised the implications of Apple's privacy push earlier than most. Within weeks of Apple's announcement in June '20 it held a board meeting to discuss how it might “combine scale to address the business model challenges posed by the pending release of an Apple iOS update.” Patrick McGee / @patrickmcgee_ : Obtained documents from Tencent explaining how CAID and QAID work. The reason for its own IDFA solution, per someone familiar, is WeChat is big enough to do this on its own — 1.2bn users. It doesn't need the China Ad Association. Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : 8/ So what does a developer do? Ingratiate themselves with Apple with a non-freemium model and hope for featuring? “Move to the middle” and build freemium products that can be efficiently marketed in the ATT environment? Go subscription? Paid access? https://mobiledevmemo.com/... Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : 7/ Apple seems to believe that a degradation in ads relevance will drive more people to the App Store for discovery. I believe this is true, but it's sub-optimal because App Store distribution mostly doesnt prioritize revenue (vs. ads-based distribution) https://mobiledevmemo.com/... Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : In an interview with Kara Swisher ahead of the iOS 14.5 public launch, Tim Cook described the App Store as an “economic miracle.” It seems hard to decouple that miracle from the freemium model, which is the App Store's economic engine—and is fundamentally threatened by ATT (1/X)

Financial Times Patrick McGee

Discussion

  • @bea_botero Beatriz Botero Arcila on x
    thought Apple's moves were turning privacy into a luxury. Privacy by financial capacity. But im not sure how their “on device” model is different from Googles. Sound as models that benefit mostly the big guys, and incentivize all to collect data on device.https://www.ft.com/...
  • @johnwilson John Wilson on x
    That's a stretch. Just because a developer's ads are less effective doesn't mean users are willing to pay for their apps. https://twitter.com/...
  • @carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
    When analyzing Apple's strategies, it isn't enough to try to evaluate impact over the next few quarters or a year but instead ask what leverage does this give them to make billions in the future? https://www.ft.com/...
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    Two mini-scoops in this Saturday @FT Big Read: @Tencent has its own “an internal adaptation” to #CAID, the IDFA-workaround out of China, called QAID. @glumobile got acquired b/c of IDFA/ATT implications. A *thread* to expand on story here. https://giftarticle.ft.com/...
  • @francesca_bria Francesca Bria on x
    “If everything in our lives can be aggregated and sold, then we lose so much more than data, we lose the freedom to be human” Tim Cook. The Big Tech battle over privacy and digital advertising. Great read👇 https://www.ft.com/...
  • @justinschuh Justin Schuh on x
    Both the thread and the article are worth a read. One really important takeaway is how poorly designed “privacy” measures actually lead to more invasive forms of data collection while simultaneously advantaging the biggest players. https://www.ft.com/...
  • @financialtimes @financialtimes on x
    Analysis: Apple's privacy push has been widely portrayed as a battle with Facebook. Arguably the better framework is Apple versus Everybody — as every company involved in advertising will be forced to learn the new rules https://www.ft.com/...
  • @neiltwitz Neil Shah on x
    Great reporting! Software has been eating the world but nothing is foolproof & ad-tech companies will find holes to target users. Great to see @Apple fight for the privacy but also have full control over the monetization & not leaving money on the table with 1Bn affluent base. ht…
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    It's taken me a while to understand this but @facebook is unlikely to be hurt by Apple's move. Yes, they need to rebuild their ad infrastructure b/c attribution becomes difficult, but 1st-party data now becomes paramount. Facebook has 2.7bn users. They will thrive.
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    Bigger is better because of the IDFV, or ID for Vendors, which app developers still get when users opt out of IDFA. It's a string of numbers that are consistent among apps with the same owner. Someone like @zynga with ~500 apps in the App Store likely comes out swinging.
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    In the scenario where groups successfully get around Apple's rules, then its privacy push becomes a marketing gimmick - the illusion of privacy, not the real thing. It's not clear (yet) Apple is prepared for the massive auditing to come.
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    In addition to entrenching big companies, the risk for Apple is that it may have created an enforcement nightmare. The digital ads industry is bigger than Apple, by revenue. Some will die. They won't die quietly. They'll circumvent, undermine in all kinds of ways.
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    That's why @Google's reaction was to shrug. It has a massive trove of data on its users. Google does not even plan to prompt its iPhone users about being tracked — instead it will cease to rely on a user's IDFA altogether
  • @zachshakked Zach on x
    I think one thing Apple underrates - all the big companies driving App Store revenue can afford to build web checkout flows. People run app ads because they work. If they stop working b/c of tracking - spend will shift to web-based checkout. All the big players do this already.
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    Losing access to third-party data is damaging to Google and Facebook, but if all of their rivals lose that access, too, then Whoever has the Most First-Party Data Wins. And that's Google and Facebook. (Also, and you'll be shocked by this: Apple)
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    Apple's policy does nothing about first-party data, so when an iPhone owner uses Google Search, Maps, Chrome, Gmail or YouTube, Google can still use that information to build ad profiles, unencumbered.
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    Rival @AppLovin is doing the same. It purchased @adjustcom for $1bn. CFO Herald Chen told me that Apple's privacy push should help it at the expense of rivals. “We believe having access to that first party data will enable us to manage through these changes rather well.”
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    Glu realised the implications of Apple's privacy push earlier than most. Within weeks of Apple's announcement in June '20 it held a board meeting to discuss how it might “combine scale to address the business model challenges posed by the pending release of an Apple iOS update.”
  • @patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
    Obtained documents from Tencent explaining how CAID and QAID work. The reason for its own IDFA solution, per someone familiar, is WeChat is big enough to do this on its own — 1.2bn users. It doesn't need the China Ad Association.
  • @eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
    8/ So what does a developer do? Ingratiate themselves with Apple with a non-freemium model and hope for featuring? “Move to the middle” and build freemium products that can be efficiently marketed in the ATT environment? Go subscription? Paid access? https://mobiledevmemo.com/...
  • @eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
    7/ Apple seems to believe that a degradation in ads relevance will drive more people to the App Store for discovery. I believe this is true, but it's sub-optimal because App Store distribution mostly doesnt prioritize revenue (vs. ads-based distribution) https://mobiledevmemo.com…
  • @eric_seufert Eric Seufert on x
    In an interview with Kara Swisher ahead of the iOS 14.5 public launch, Tim Cook described the App Store as an “economic miracle.” It seems hard to decouple that miracle from the freemium model, which is the App Store's economic engine—and is fundamentally threatened by ATT (1/X)