What Does iOS 14.5 Mean for Users?
Today, Apple is releasing its long-awaited IOS 14.5 update, one of the most impactful updates Apple has ever released. Guaranteed to permanently shake up the advertising and publishing landscapes, iOS14 is the result of the intense pressure on ad tech to ensure user privacy and safety.
Users will now have the option to opt into having their data and information tracked by third-party organizations. When an application within the IOS ecosystem wants to track a user’s information, the user will be prompted with a pop-up on whether to allow this or not.
Previously, the third-party tracking system was based on opting-out, meaning if you didn’t want your data tracked, you had to go out of your way to clarify that.
For users, this is highly desired privacy and protection that comes at the heels of litigation over the years – from Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica drama to the continuous privacy battle between Facebook and Google.
The technical term for this new privacy-focused technology is called App Tracking Transparency or ATT. It will be yet another major step Apple is using to put privacy back in the hands of users. Of course, with such a major change, and so many different companies relying on cookies and IFDA (Identifiers For Advertisers,) a lot of companies are going to have to evolve their tools for targeting their audiences.
This quote above is from a video by the Wall Street Journal that covers the iOS 14.5 update.
What Does iOS 14.5 Mean for Advertising and Publishing?
Businesses as large as Facebook and as small as your local mom-and-pop will feel the massive change in the digital marketing ecosystem. It’s expected that the majority of people prompted with this message will choose to opt-out of having their information tracked, leaving many ad tech companies who rely deeply on those third-party cookies at a loss.
For advertising companies that deal heavily with billions of dollars in app tracking, like Facebook, previously, they utilized user data to improve targeting capabilities and allow advertisers to see better ROAS.
Richard Marques, CEO at RevContent, said, “At RevContent, we actively do not rely on behavioral or interest data as a targeting option to sell to advertisers. Through powerful contextual targeting, advertisers target by granular site and placement options.
Luckily, RevContent is built and equipped with the technology to weather this storm.
RevContent Targeting Options
RevContent Bid By Widget Options
RevContent As Contextual Targeting with Large Majority First-Party Demand
With 90%+ first-party advertiser demand for its advertisers, RevContent doesn’t heavily rely on third-party cookies at all, nor any other sort of behavioral tracking. We simply provide premium, high-quality, direct traffic to advertisers across the globe. While companies push to find alternatives to IFDA, we are continuing to do what we do best.
“Apple’s iOS 14.5 makes using app-based, IDFA user data a clearly prompted user opt-in. General consensus is that 50-75%+ of users will not be motivated enough to allow it.
This will make audience acquisition and general targeted advertising efforts more difficult for any company that has a large, primarily app-based audience.” – Matt Kaye, Head of Programmatic Products & Partnerships at RevContent.
RevContent’s platform does have some top tier app / sdk-based inventory, however over 90% of our overall supply is Web & Mobile-web based.
If the digital landscape shifts (which it will), then brands and marketers will need to rapidly shift focus to first-party data and direct relationships.
Privacy is king, and this year has seen some major shifts. Google is moving away from cookies, Apple is updating IOS, and many other sites are starting to crack down on how marketers reach their audiences.
“Apple being the first to market sets the tone for what more and more internet users can demand in terms of privacy protection which accelerates new requirements for upholding users right to opt into tracking/monitoring. Quickly advertisers are being forced to reconsider how heavily they depend on user data and how they expect to pivot as a result of the ripple effect this will have.” – Stephanie Reed, Sr Account Executive at RevContent.
RevContent is in a prime position to provide high-quality insights and world-class account management to digital marketers.
We’re ready to tackle the year of privacy.
