Apple’s recent addition of the App Tracking Transparency was a breakthrough in the world of user privacy. It allowed users to opt out of targeted data tracking by default, and while this benefited users it also harmed several businesses because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up restricting their access to much needed data. ATT reached a wide enough market adoption rate in June of 2021, and now that over a year has passed it is interesting to see the kind of impact that it had.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that a very unique trend occurred in the aftermath of the rollout of this feature. Apple’s ad business has gone up, and Facebook’s ad business has seen an almost exact mirror image of that. Apple’s media channel adoption rate has soared by 4 points to 94.8%, while Facebook’s has decreased by 3 points to 82.8% with all things having been considered and taken into account.
This means that Apple has now broken the previously unassailable duopoly of Google and Facebook in the digital ad market, but in spite of the fact that this is the case many are claiming that Apple’s method for entering this arena was somewhat underhanded. Facebook estimated that it will lose about ten billion dollars in revenue this year due to the App Tracking Transparency protocol, and recent estimates have shown that the losses may be even higher than that.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Apple has played a major role in the downfall that Facebook is currently experiencing. However, Facebook itself is also to blame for building a business model that was so reliant on the illicit collection of user data without their knowledge.
Apple may very well have benefited from its tracking transparency, but that doesn’t change the reality that it was also a necessary step as far as user privacy is concerned. The tech juggernaut’s ad business gains are simply part and parcel with this overall improvement to the protection of user data.
Read next: What Do You Do Online? Survey Highlights Digital Habits Of Users Worldwide
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that a very unique trend occurred in the aftermath of the rollout of this feature. Apple’s ad business has gone up, and Facebook’s ad business has seen an almost exact mirror image of that. Apple’s media channel adoption rate has soared by 4 points to 94.8%, while Facebook’s has decreased by 3 points to 82.8% with all things having been considered and taken into account.
This means that Apple has now broken the previously unassailable duopoly of Google and Facebook in the digital ad market, but in spite of the fact that this is the case many are claiming that Apple’s method for entering this arena was somewhat underhanded. Facebook estimated that it will lose about ten billion dollars in revenue this year due to the App Tracking Transparency protocol, and recent estimates have shown that the losses may be even higher than that.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Apple has played a major role in the downfall that Facebook is currently experiencing. However, Facebook itself is also to blame for building a business model that was so reliant on the illicit collection of user data without their knowledge.
Apple may very well have benefited from its tracking transparency, but that doesn’t change the reality that it was also a necessary step as far as user privacy is concerned. The tech juggernaut’s ad business gains are simply part and parcel with this overall improvement to the protection of user data.
Read next: What Do You Do Online? Survey Highlights Digital Habits Of Users Worldwide
