There has been a lot of commotion lately with regards to Apple’s new iOS 14.5 update. With the latest update, Apple sure has brought some new futures but what’s been a problem for Facebook and other advertisers is the App Tracking Transparency (ATT). What is that? Let’s find out.
What is App Tracking Transparency?
App Tracking Transparency or ATT is a feature that is one of the enormous advances in privacy that prevents any app from tracking a user’s online activities in the background without asking for permission. Good for users’ privacy, right?
What’s the problem then?
The problem lies in apps like Facebook, Instagram, etc., not being able to collect your data, and thus they cannot show personalized ads. “So what?” you ask. Apps rely on your data to offer you products that you might be interested in, and these apps get paid to play these ads. To put it in simple terms, if you are looking for a T-shirt, let’s say your data implies that you’re looking for it, and thus apps can show you ads from a T-shirt manufacturer that you might end up buying. But what happens after the update is that if you block App tracking, the apps will not show you relevant ads, and even if you’re looking for a T-shirt, the app might show you some ads related to groceries.
What’s the update then?
There’s been a lot of backlashing recently, as with the release of this update, any app must prompt the user for permission before tracking the user’s activity between apps and websites.
But after the update, Facebook and even Instagram have been prompting a notice for users on iOS 14.5 to allow tracking for these apps. It helps to keep Facebook and Instagram free of cost, i.e., without any subscription charges. The notice seems to be the issue here, as it seems persuasive and even threatening as it says denying to allow tracking could lead the companies to add charges for accessing the platform in the future.
That’s everything broken down for you, so what are your thoughts on this iOS Vs. Advertisers clash going on? Let us know via comments.
