How Apple’s privacy feature on iPhone is ‘helping’ Android, Facebook – Times of India

Amidst much hue and cry, Apple launched the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature earlier this year with iOS 14.5. The feature allows user to maintain online privacy and prevents third-party marketers to track them all the time. However, a report by The Wall Street Journal suggests that advertisers are now shifting to Android because of this feature.
The report cites data from ad analytics firm Tenjin, that has revealed that spending on iOS ad platforms was cut down one-third between June and July. During the same time, advertising on Android platforms has gone up by around 10%.

Privacy does come at a ‘cost’

According to the report, ad agency Tinuiti stated that post ATT, advertisers couldn’t bid for targeted advertising on iPhones. Advertisers moved to Android with demand for target advertising on Android jumped up from 46% year-on-year growth in May to 64% in June.
The report further said that iOS spending fell from 42% growth in May to 25% in June. Though iOS is still seeing growth, the rate has dropped for iOS in the last couple of months, mainly due to Apple’s push on privacy. During the same time period, Android’s growth rate has gone up.

Why ATT hurts and ‘helps’ companies like Facebook

ATT gives users the option to choose if they want any app to track them. A survey suggested that 91% of iPhone users in the US chose the not tracking option. This hurt companies like Facebook, Instagram whose major revenue stream is tracking IDs of smartphones and delivering ads to them.
“While we expect iOS 14.5 to be a headwind for the remainder of the year, the impact on our business will be manageable,” Facebook said earlier about the ATT feature.
However, a report by AppleInsider suggests that Facebook could be benefiting from it as most users in a lot of countries use Android over iOS. The ad rates of Android have gone up and this may be helping many companies, including Facebook.