As Apple Inc. moves forward with long-promised plans to make it harder to target certain iPhone users with ads, advertising companies and software developers are bracing for major disruptions in the advertising industry. $ 400 billion digital.
Facebook Inc., gaming companies, and ad technology providers are weighing a variety of responses, including updated payment models, new advertising techniques, and user notifications. In China, social media apps have tested a possible workaround that would continue to track users’ fingerprints.
Changes to Apple’s iPhone software, part of what the company describes as an app-tracking transparency initiative aimed at protecting user privacy, will allow users to decide whether to allow apps to track them for targeted ads. The iPhone maker first announced the plan in June and intended to roll it out in September, before delaying that deadline until 2021 to give partners more time to prepare.
Many of those affected have voiced their opposition to the plan for months. But with the expected change in the coming weeks, they are now preparing for it and weighing the potential impacts.
“Most people are resigned to the reality of this,” said Eric Seufert, a strategist and consultant who has conducted several workshops on the subject for developers and ad tech firms. “I don’t think anyone thinks they have some kind of agency here to change things or institute a solution.”