It has been almost a year since Apple introduced iOS 14.5 with App Tracking Transparency, a feature that lets users choose whether or not they want to be tracked by third-party apps. While the number of users opting to let apps track them was low at first, a new research from Adjust shows that some people have been changing their mind about this option.
According to the research firm, the industry feared that the new App Tracking Transparency in iOS would hurt the mobile app market, which heavily relies on advertisements. In May 2021, opt-in rates were at around 16%. Now that number has grown to 25% a year later.
When it comes to games, the number is even higher – 30% of users have allowed developers to collect their data for advertisements. The numbers are based on a global research considering the 2,000 most popular apps in Adjust’s database. In some cases, popular games have achieved opt-in rates of up to 75%.
Interestingly, other research last year had revealed that only 4% of users in the United States had opted in to App Tracking one month after the feature was launched. Of course, Adjust notes that consent rates vary from app to app, but the company believes that more users are seeing the “value” of receiving personalized advertisements.
While the industry has largely adapted and come to understand the benefits of working with a mix of ATT opted-in, device-level data, and aggregated SKAdNetwork data, getting the opt-in has become a pivotal strategic starting point.
Consent rates do, however, vary widely, but we expect to see a continued upward trend as more users understand the value of opting in and receiving personalized advertisements — something the gaming industry has been most successful in presenting until now.
Since App Tracking Transparency was introduced, it has resulted in multiple controversies between developers and big tech companies – especially Facebook, which to this day stands against changes to Apple’s privacy policies. ATT, as the feature is also called, would have cost Facebook $13 billion in lost revenue by 2022.
Apple, on the other hand, will obviously continue to push privacy features in iOS.
Author: Filipe Espósito
Source: 9TO5Google
