Apple agrees to meet with advertising coalition over iOS 14 concerns

Apple will meet with a group of advertising bodies in Europe to discuss a new iOS 14 feature that could seriously impact on advertising.

According to Digiday:

Apple has agreed to meet (via video conference) with a coalition of advertising and media trade bodies including IAB Europe, IAB Tech Lab, IAB France, News Media Europe and the European Publishers' Council on September 11. It follows a letter the coalition wrote to Tim Cook in July, expressing their concerns that the new IDFA opt-in pop-up is not compliant with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and that it will adversely impact the revenue of publishers and mobile marketing companies.

Developers including Facebook have kicked up a stink over Apple's new iOS 14 ad privacy feature that would have required users to opt-in to some advertising tracking features. Facebook was reportedly concerned the feature could cut ad revenue significantly. Apple has reportedly delayed the feature until 2021 due to pushback from developers.

The report further notes:

Opponents to Apple's app privacy change argue that any move to depreciate the IDFA would likely strengthen Apple's own advertising business, whether intentional on Apple's part or not. Apple currently serves search ads on the App Store and ads within its Apple News app.

The report notes that some antitrust scrutiny in the EU may have prompted Apple to sit down with the various bodies, who wrote to Apple in July expressing concerns that Apple's planned iOS 14 privacy features may not be compliant with GDPR in the EU, and that it would harm the revenue of both publishers and mobile marketing companies.