300 days ago, Apple announced at WWDC that marketers who want to get access to device identifiers like IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) would have to ask people first. Just like GDPR — if you want to set a cookie on a web page, you need to ask — mobile apps on iOS would need to request permission to track people.
Today, finally, we know when that will actually be enforced. It’s next week.
It changes a HUGE amount for marketers … essentially their entire growth stack needs adjustment. Publishers have to change as well, as do adtech vendors, so it’s a massive industry shift. (Which, by the way, will come to Android soon enough.)
From my post on my client Singular’s blog:
The future of attribution on iOS is privacy-safe. The reality is that while it’s wonderful as a marketer to have all possible data to know what’s happening with ads, potential users, actual users, whales and big customers, and to be able to target with accuracy, retarget and remarket precisely, and find look-alike users with high fidelity, there’s a privacy cost to be paid. And the same technology that has enabled incredible feats of digital marketing has major potential downsides which have been and can be used with severely negative consequences for public welfare and individual privacy.
Oh, and it’s not just iOS.
Android’s coming, too. Google’s working on Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), and while the reaction from the privacy and marketing and publishing communities hasn’t been great so far, something will happen on Android that will make mobile attribution and marketing measurement on Google’s mobile platform privacy safe, or at least privacy safer. Google’s tipped their intentions by unveiling FLoC, and the entire regulatory and public sentiment trend is towards increased privacy and decreased data collection.