What you need to know
- A new report says that App Tracking Transparency is causing iOS ad prices to fall.
- Android ad prices are increasing as advertisers move their money to where the data is.
Apple's enforcement of its new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) rules is seeing advertisers move away from iOS and towards Android, according to a new report. The shift has seen ad prices fall in terms of those directed at iPhones and iPads, while ads targeted at Android devices have seen a price rise.
Apple began enforcing ATT with the arrival of iOS 14.5 and a new Wall Street Journal report believes that this is having a direct impact on the price of ads targeting iOS — as it is those targeting Android. The ad spending that has targeted iOS is also now much less targeted to specific demographics because of the lack of data.
Digital advertisers say they have lost much of the granular data that made mobile ads on iOS devices effective and justified their prices. In recent months, ad-buyers have deployed their iOS ad spending in much less targeted ways than were previously possible, marketers and ad-tech companies say.
It's thought that as little as 4% of users allow themselves to be tracked once asked, having a direct impact on ad companies and their ability to push ads at specific users and demographics. That's ATT working as intended, with digital-ad agency Tinuiti Inc saying that "Android ad prices are now about 30% higher than ad prices for iOS users."
The news that advertisers are moving their money to Android — where the data is — shouldn't be all that surprising. It's also a sign that ATT is doing what it was supposed to do in protecting users' privacy and data. That sounds like a win to me!
Why not celebrate by bagging one of the best iPhone deals we've seen?
