As we enter H2, NDA asked a number of industry figures about what have been the key developments so far in 2021 and what’s to come. This time it’s Shumel Lais, Founder & CEO, Appsumer
It will come as no surprise that for mobile app advertisers the biggest issue right now is the enforcement of ATT in iOS 14.5 and the accompanying IDFA restrictions.
As a recap, IDFAs have been used, much like third-party cookies, to power activity such as behavioural targeting, retargeting, view-through attribution and connecting advertising campaigns to post-install behaviour. But since the rollout of iOS 14.5 in April, the availability of IDFAs for users in an app sits at around 20%. Further, when looking at dual opt-in on the publisher and advertiser side it’s actually closer to 10% of data that can be attributed by MMPs and used for user-level ad targeting.
It’s important to note, however, that iOS 14.5+ adoption is still low at around 20% so the real impact is not yet known given that all the data we have so far has been skewed towards early adopters. That said, iOS 14.6 has just launched and we expect that this latest software update could drive mass adoption; only then will we know the full impact of ATT.
As a result, in the coming months we expect to see major channels like Facebook and Google recover targeting capabilities by using first-party data which should mean spend returns to normal levels on iOS. Simultaneously, Apple’s own ad network will develop further, however, there will still be question marks over its effectiveness, given early results for advertisers.
We also anticipate that Google will announce plans for a very slow rollout of limitations on its own GAID on Android devices. However, it’s unlikely that this will mirror Apple’s approach on iOS and instead be a watered down version.
So, what does this mean for advertisers? Here are our top four areas we think advertisers should be focusing on in the coming months to survive and thrive:
- Preparing for a world where you don’t have an ID on either Android or iOS. This will massively alter the role of traditional MMPs in the ad-tech stack.
- Start experimenting with more contextual advertising targeting options. Prepare budgets for a heavier weighting towards Android in the short-term. However, make sure you’re experimenting with iOS spend to ensure you’re present on the operating system when performance returns and there are outsized returns for a short period of time.
- Squeeze as much as you can out of Apple’s own channels like Apple Search Ads whilst still hitting your traditional performance targets. However, tread with caution on its broader ad network as early results don’t appear great from a performance perspective.
4.Invest heavily in building an effective performance view of your SKAN data and modelling to ensure you have effective signals to optimise. This won’t just pay off now it will also pay dividends in the future when Google makes similar moves.
Appsumer is a client of Bluestripe Communications, part of The Bluestripe Group who are the publishers of New Digital Age
