32% of iOS users are estimated to give third-party apps permission to track them
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature will soon be here asking iOS users to make a choice
Further analysis also suggests that well-liked apps will have a higher opt-in rate in the neighborhood of 40% Whether that means that consumers have more faith in the developers of their favorite mobile apps is not certain. Apple is working hard to prevent third party apps from fingerprinting users by collecting different data to create a unique individual based on that data.
The number of iPhone users estimated to give permission to being tracked varies depending on whom you ask. Dating app Bumble predicts that a range between 1% and 20% of iOS users want to continue receiving online advertisements.
Some apps have been fighting back by creating workarounds. Chinese app developers like TikTok parent ByteDance and Tencent are using a workaround called CAID that allegedly allows the developers to continue to serve up ads to individually targeted iOS users. Last month, Apple told the Financial Times that “The App Store terms and guidelines apply equally to all developers around the world, including Apple. Apps that are found to disregard the user’s choice will be rejected.”
If opt-out rates are high and the number of iPhone users that don’t want to be tracked exceeds expectations, advertising executives expect the cost of 1,000 ad impressions (known as the CPM in industry lingo) is expected to drop by as much as 50%. AdWeek says that mobile advertising in the U.S. is a $105 billion industry.
Speaking of the social media giant, Facebook says that the App Tracking Transparency feature could result in a 7% drop in the company’s revenue. That would work out to a $350 decline in the company’s top line this year.
Apple has been promoting its privacy policies and late last year it required apps to include a Privacy Label on new apps getting listed on the App Store. In addition, existing apps had to add the label after being updated. The label shows the type of data that a particular app collects from users and how it might lead to identification of those users.
