Apple’s new iOS 14 will enable users to turn off Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) for each app. That option has existed before but it has been securely buried in the Settings where not a lot of people could find it.
IDFA is used to link an ad engagement with an eventual app install on a specific device.Without IDFA activated, it will be more difficult for mobile marketers to attribute ad spend.
The mobile attribution functionality is now taken away from ad networks if users deny IDFA tracking, which they will in most cases. And that’s great for user privacy, but not so great for the ad industry.
Facebook and Google, biggest mobile user acquisition platforms, have their own SDK to potentially continue gathering data for ad targeting. Unless Apple gets in the way. Which it might as it has been developing its own privacy-safe framework to identify which ads result in what user behavior. It’s called SKAdNetwork and it provides ad networks with mobile attribution info without giving up data on individual users and devices.
Advertisers will now receive a cryptographically signed notification from Apple itself to know if an ad worked.
Ad networks have been preparing for this for some time, as reported by Forbes. We are yet to see how advertisers, including Facebook and Google, continue to gather UA insights on iOS.