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HOW the iOS 14 update impactS DATA TRACKING PERMISSIONS

Faburary 11, 2021

There is a big chance that you’ve already heard the news that Apple is making big changes to data tracking permissions in the iOS 14 and that it might have a significant impact on Facebook advertisers and app developers.

In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about the upcoming changes and share tips on how to be prepared.

What is happening?

Apple has announced an upcoming change to its new iOS 14.4 operating system with an effort to protect user’s privacy following their new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework; Now Apple will prompt user’s on whether they will allow for data tracking. As more people opt-out of tracking, e-commerce can expect a change in the way they function.

What are the targeting limitations?

There will be a decrease in app and web conversion events as more people opt-out of tracking, ad personalisation, and performance reporting. Also, app connections, app activity custom audiences, and website custom audiences might reduce.  For both app and web conversions, delivery and action breakdowns, such as age, gender, region, and placement will not be supported. Real-time reporting will not be supported, and data may be delayed up to 3 days. Once Apple’s software changes take effect, the attribution window for all new or active ad campaigns will be set at the ad set level, rather than at the account level.

How will this affect custom audiences?

Platforms based on custom audiences will experience an overall reduction. Despite Facebook and Instagram engagement events and other in-app actions still to be tracked, user’s choice to opt-out will result in a smaller pool of results. The same applies to site-based audiences as it will be difficult to track an action onsite.

How will this affect performance?

As we have yet to experience the new software update, we are not entirely certain of what the effects will be. However, we can note that all social media platforms will be affected in some way. The changes will be heavily dependent on the number of people who choose to opt-out of tracking and Facebook’s ability to track on-site events.

How can you get prepared?

Now that you are aware of the issue at hand, let’s discuss some strategies so we can overcome it…

If you plan to deliver ads for conversion events that occur in your business’s app:

Update to Facebook’s SDK for the iOS 14 version 8.1 to help personalize ads delivered to devices on iOS 14, and continue to receive app conversion events reporting from iOS 14 devices.

If you plan to deliver ads for conversion events that occur on your business’s website:

You may need to verify your website’s domain to avoid any future disruption of your website’s campaigns.

If you plan to deliver ads for conversion events that occur in your business’s app:

You can only associate your app with a single ad account, however, you can use the same ad account to advertise for multiple apps.

Each app is limited to 9 iOS 14 campaigns at once and each campaign is limited to 5 ad sets of the same optimization type.

Auction is the only available buying option when you create an ad for devices on iOS 14.

Once your campaign is published, the iOS 14 campaign toggle can’t turn on or off.

If you plan to deliver ads for conversion events that occur on your business’s website:

Your pixel may only optimize for a maximum of 8 conversion events for each domain. Facebook will initially configure the conversion events that are most relevant to your business -, based activity.

If you plan to deliver dynamic ads for your business’s app:

To direct all iOS 14 devices to an app destination, simply create a new campaign that optimizes for link clicks.

If you plan to deliver dynamic ads for your business’s website:

Set up your catalog to use only one pixel. Your pixel will only report and optimize for a maximum of 8 conversion events for each domain.

if you use multiple domains in your catalog, verify each website domain that is used as a product URL and avoid using any product URLs that redirect to another domain.

Conclusion

The development of Apple’s iOS 14.4 will bring various new changes, however the implementation of it is still evolving. Facebook is an essential ad platform for all forms of e-commerce and is facing vast changes due to external software updates. It is important to take the actions that are within our control to get prepared. At VENDO, we want you to know that we are on this journey together and we’ll provide updates and additional resources to support business advertising efforts as they become available.