Apple’s recent decision to introduce a new feature called App Tracking Transparency cause a veritable firestorm because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making it difficult for companies like Facebook to profit off of targeted ads. One criticism that many companies are levying against Apple is that this app tracking transparency might be benefiting the company financially, which could create a potential conflict of interest and be seen as an anti-competitive practice.
A recent study conducted by a doctorate holder at Columbia University found that Apple has not profited much from ATT, but with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that Apple is the main source of funding for the study. In spite of the fact that this is the case, researchers at prestigious universities can’t lie about raw data, so if the data refutes the claim that ATT is in Apple’s interests this study might be rather reliable.
The assertion that Apple’s new privacy policy redirected ad revenue their way is disputed in this study, although some might want to take these claims with a bit of salt. The study claims that Apple’s ad revenue growth is the result of first party data collection which ATT does not have any impact on. That’s not to say that Apple hasn’t benefited from this feature, but it must be mentioned that only companies that relied on heavy and invisible tracking without user knowledge are suffering major setbacks due to this transparency policy.
One thing that might have spurred Apple funding a study like this is that Facebook has been heavily criticizing them for basically ruining their entire business model. The fact that this business model was predicated on somewhat suspect data collection practices notwithstanding, this was turning into a narrative that Apple had to quickly counter. It will be interesting to see where this back and forth ends up taking us in the future, because several major corporations are involved in this and they would want things to become more positive for them.
Read next: Apple Delivers Record-Breaking Performance As Revenue Hits $19.8 Billion With 825 Million Paid Subscriptions And Massive Increase In Product Sales
A recent study conducted by a doctorate holder at Columbia University found that Apple has not profited much from ATT, but with all of that having been said and now out of the way it is important to note that Apple is the main source of funding for the study. In spite of the fact that this is the case, researchers at prestigious universities can’t lie about raw data, so if the data refutes the claim that ATT is in Apple’s interests this study might be rather reliable.
The assertion that Apple’s new privacy policy redirected ad revenue their way is disputed in this study, although some might want to take these claims with a bit of salt. The study claims that Apple’s ad revenue growth is the result of first party data collection which ATT does not have any impact on. That’s not to say that Apple hasn’t benefited from this feature, but it must be mentioned that only companies that relied on heavy and invisible tracking without user knowledge are suffering major setbacks due to this transparency policy.
One thing that might have spurred Apple funding a study like this is that Facebook has been heavily criticizing them for basically ruining their entire business model. The fact that this business model was predicated on somewhat suspect data collection practices notwithstanding, this was turning into a narrative that Apple had to quickly counter. It will be interesting to see where this back and forth ends up taking us in the future, because several major corporations are involved in this and they would want things to become more positive for them.
Read next: Apple Delivers Record-Breaking Performance As Revenue Hits $19.8 Billion With 825 Million Paid Subscriptions And Massive Increase In Product Sales
