This is how Apple is forcing businesses and advertisers to change.

Apple is launching a new Framework called App Tracking Transparency (ATT) with their iOS 14.5.

This tool requests authorization to share data every time a user installs an app on an iPhone to let that app track the user’s activity.

Developers must use it if their apps collect data about end-users and share it with other companies such as Google and Facebook to track user’s activities across apps and websites for marketing purposes.

This change means a big hit to targeted advertising which is the main model of giants like Facebook, Google, and Linkedin.

These companies have huge databases in their power so they will be safe from it.

But smaller companies like e-commerce stores and small local businesses that rely on those services will have to adapt if they want to survive and thrive.

Apple offers an approach to this issue with a tool called SKAdNetwork, which gives advertisers data about their campaigns without giving away personal information.

With this change, Apple wants to:

1. Become the leader in privacy.
2. Use its network size as a key advantage to crush its competitors with their own ad platform that, according to them, will play under this new set of rules.

But pay attention to their own wording when they ask for the user’s permission to share information on their ad platform vs others.

The App Tracking Transparency (https://developer.apple.com/app-store/user-privacy-and-data-use/) will show a message like this one when a new app is installed:

Allow “Facebook” to track your activity, across other companies’ apps and websites?
Here, in addition to other screens, Facebook can explain why users should allow tracking.

This kind of message scares a user immediately because it says the word “tracking” without saying what the user will receive in return (more “targeted” or relevant ads).

Now, check out what they say in “Apple Advertising” within the device settings:

Apple-Delivered Advertising
The Apple advertising platform does not track you. It is designed to protect your privacy and does not follow you across apps and websites owned by other companies. You have control over how Apple users your information.

View Ad Targeting Information
Ad targeting information is used by Apple to personalize your ad experience.
Turning off personalized ads will limit Apple’s ability to deliver relevant ads to you but will not reduce the number of ads you receive.

In this case, you can say they are playing with words in their favor. Because they force advertisers to use the “tracking” language while they describe themselves as “ads personalization”, which doesn’t sound as bad and scary.

Google approaches these new privacy practices by removing support for third-party cookies on their Chrome browser and Chromium project (which is the base of many other browsers in the market), with a new feature called Privacy Sandbox.

Cookies are small pieces of code that track user’s behavior on the Internet. The ‘problem’ they have is that they identify each user as a unique “token”. And while the identity is not disclosed, each user is treated as a unique individual by search engines for advertising.

With the Privacy Sandbox, Google wants to change this approach so that instead of tracking users individually, they are placed into a pool of other users with similar behaviors and interests. So the entity instead of being a single person is that collection of users (FLoCs).

But many people aren’t buying this approach. They argue that Google uses a false dichotomy with this approach and that the real issue should imagine a world without online tracking instead of an “old tracking vs new tracking” problem.

What do YOU think?

All these new approaches are happening because of the right and need that people have for online privacy, and it’s great for the individuals, but it hurts businesses pretty bad. It will be harder and more expensive for them to do personalized advertising.

Now, what should you do about it? Remember, in nature those who adapt and evolve are the ones that survive and thrive.

You must think in the long run, don’t rely on online paid advertising. Here are 5 solid ways that you can put in place to ensure success online.

1. First, make sure to build a database of your current clients, it’s easier to sell to previous customers than it is to new cold customers.
2. Give value to receive value: incentivize new purchases with free perks as hooks and different offers.
3. Build trust. You do this by creating content and getting it in front of people. And now the best way to do it is to create videos. You don’t even need to show your face on those videos and the beautiful part is that most businesses (aka your competition) aren’t doing this, so you will automatically stand above them with this strategy.
4. Tune up your website as a tool to generate clients automatically from your traffic. When looking at your site ask these questions:
   • Is my website accessible to everyone despite having any kind of disability or not?
   • Is the information about my business, products, and services clear or confusing?
   • Are there clear calls to action to buy a product or service, book a meeting, sign up for a webinar, etc?
   • Is my website visible from search engines like Google and Bing?
5. Improve your traffic:
   • Diversify your social media traffic, don’t rely on a single source. You can post the same content on different platforms and invite viewers to your website.
   • Put in place good SEO practices on your website and content so that search engines like Google and Bing can find them easier. This strategy takes time and effort but pays greatly.

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Reference Links:

https://hbr.org/2021/04/apple-is-changing-how-digital-ads-work-are-advertisers-prepared

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