iOS 14 Update(1): What is going to change on iOS 14?

What change would be on iOS 14?

[[인용:안내:작게]] After iOS 14.5, AppTrackingTransparency is going to be mandatory.  - see the detailed article

At WWDC 2020, Apple announced the enforcement of the user's privacy policy on iOS14, and this policy would lead to 2 big changes in the mobile app ad environment.

• Without a user's permission, you cannot get IDFA, a unique iOS device identifier. You have to get users' permission through the App Tracking Transparency(ATT) prompt to use IDFA.
• Apple measures app advertisement performance using SKAdNetwork and sends the results directly to the ad network.

In this article, we are dealing with how iOS14 will change the mobile ad environment and how adbrix has been ready for this huge transformation.

Getting IDFA and Attribution

You should get a user's consent of collecting IDFA

IDFA has been a unique iOS device identifier in the mobile ad environment. Every activity in the ad network such as measuring campaign performance, analyzing user's action, targeting, etc. on iOS has been based on IDFA. In other words, this policy will have a huge impact on all the ad network members.

After iOS14.5, a user's permission of IDFA has been changed from opt-out to opt-in.

• Opt-Out:  Can get data from users without permission, but users can withdraw the permission.
• Opt-In:  Cannot get data from users unless there is no user's permission.

If advertisers decide to get IDFA from users through explicit consent, you should develop an ATT prompt in the app referencing the Apple framework documents. If there is no ATT prompt in the app, IDFA is basically unavailable to use.

ATT Prompt exampleㅣimage source: Apple, PRESS RELEASE

Despite no user's permission, adbrix attribution still have worked on 

In the design step of adbrix, we have already developed probabilistic modeling as a backup to track attribution with no IDFA. Because Apple doesn't support tracking through the app market like Google referrer in Android, advertisers have already run iOS campaigns using probabilistic modeling.

We are going to use IDFV at attribution instead of IDFA when there is no user's permission. In other words, if you do not develop ATT prompt or cannot get users' permission of IDFA, adbrix SDK will use IDFV to measure attribution and track users' activities on the iOS. However, it will be impossible to track attribution using device ID matching, only probabilistic modeling attribution could be possible.

[[인용:안내:작게]] To track attribution using IDFV, please update iOS SDK. see the detailㅣiOS integration

[[인용:안내:작게]] To activate probabilistic attribution using IDFV, please check if you set the Click-Fingerprint Unit at Tier in Open Attribution Modeling. Click-Fingerprint Unit is set on the open attribution modeling at Tier2 as default.

Apple SKAdNetwork

SKAdNetwork is a library of Apple

Apple updates SKAdNetwork to provide the constrained type of campaign report without IDFA. Attribution via SKAdNetwork will be sent to each ad network(media or ad partner) only it has contributed. To make the SKAdNetwork report, advertisers, ad networks, and publisher apps should update according to the Apple policy.

However, advertisers would have some restrictions on running an iOS campaign.

1. Advertisers can't track view-through attribution
   SKAdNetwork works at the moment when a user clicks the ad, so far there is no API to track ad exposure on Apple documents.
   
   
2. Advertisers can't track web to app attribution
   As mentioned in the above instruction, SKAdNetwork API is supported by only the app level, not on the web, so it is not possible to track web to app attribution.
   
   
3. Advertisers can't see the live performance report
   Apple will send a postback to the ad network when app install conversion is determined via an ad, but the Apple document says it takes about 24~48 hours delay after app install. In other words, marketers can see the campaign performance at least after 24 hours. 
   
   
4. Advertisers can't see the all partners' report at once
   Apple sends the acquisition postback to the ad partner that contributed to the attribution, and marketers have to access reports one by one provided with partners. If marketers want to see the all report at once, developers should make a new report on the advertiser side.
   
   
5. Advertisers can't run a retargeting campaign
   It is anticipated that most users do not opt-in for tracking, so it is hard to collect enough audience data with IDFA for the retargeting campaigns.
   
   
6. Advertisers can't measure ROAS
   Because advertisers cannot collect device IDs without the user's permission, measuring ROAS is not the same as before.

How adbrix deal with iOS14

update SDK version for iOS14

adbrix SDK for iOS14 is released on the Cocoapods, so update SDK following integration guide for iOS.

Apple Search Ad Update 

Apple Search Ads(ASA) API will change to Apple Ads Attribution(AAA) API. Advertisers can receive ASA attribution results at once, but ASA API will be deprecated in 14.6. In AAA API, an advertiser should request a dynamic token from the AdService framework first, and then calls the attribution API with this returned token.

adbrix has updated SDK to be compatible with the new Apple Search Ad framework.

[[인용:안내:작게]] Regardless of ATT setting, Apple Search Ads will send the results of attribution.
If the case of LAT is activated, you can't see the result of Apple Search Ads.

Apple Ads Attribution API process, Apple developer page(https://developer.apple.com/documentation/adservices)

SKAdNetwork Report

An advertiser needs to see all the SKAdNetwork reports at once to analyze the performance, all the members of the ad network including advertisers, MMPs, media partners should co-work to achieve this goal. Adbrix will start to update with the partners that have been ready to integrate SKAdNetwork.

How to ready for iOS14

For Advertisers

a. Decide whether to get IDFA or not

There are 2 options for developers.

• Do not get IDFA(no need to develop ATT prompt)

• Try to get IDFA(develop ATT prompt)

An advertiser should ask the users' permission using the ATT prompt to get IDFA. If the advertiser and a partner can get IDFA from users, they can measure attribution using the device ID matching and this is the most sophisticated modeling. However, with no IDFA we are going to measure and analyze attribution using probabilistic modeling with IDFV.

and this situation is the best because the advertiser can analyze sophisticated attribution with IDFA. However, the partner has to get IDFA on the application to measure device ID matching attribution. 

b. SKAdNetwork reporting integration

To integrate the Apple SKAdNetwork attribution library, you should add specific methods to send data to Apple.

• Call registerAppForAdNetworkAttribution() method when the app first launches.

• If you want to track the user's activity after app installs, call updateConversionValue(_ :) method.

• For a detailed integration guide, please see the Apple development documents. (Apple development document)

For ad partners

To deal with postback, ad partners should update their postback templates and finish SKAdNetwork integration.

a. Changes of postback

• There are some changes of postback including iOS14, and all the versions have the same change on postback.
• Regardless of the iOS version, adbrix has measured attribution with or without IDFA. After iOS SDK 1.6.5400, we are using IDFV as the default device identifier, but if there is a user's permission adbrix will use IDFA as an additional device identifier.
  
• Ad partners could get postbacks on the following conditions.
  
  postback under Only condition
  Regardless of getting IDFA or not, partners can only get the attributed postback data.
  
  postback under All condition
  If there is permission from a user about getting IDFA, partners can get all the postback data that is attributed or not attributed.
  If there is no permission from a user about getting IDFA, partners can only get attributed postback data. As for the postback data without IDFA, adbrix server sends postback to the partner under the Only condition.
  
  Postback macro would return the following values depending on the existence of IDFA.
  

  macro	description	with IDFA	without IDFA
  {req.common.identity.adid}	Existing IDFA macro. will be deprecated	postback	no postback
  {req.common.identity.idfa}	Apple IDFA (IDFA)	postback	no postback
  {req.common.identity.idfv}	Apple Vender ID (IDFV)	postback	postback

b. SKAdNetwork Reporting Integration

• Fill out the registration form to be an ad network of Apple.

• Add your ad network ID to the ad partner's app on which you want to run the campaign.

• The moment a user clicks the ad, you have to call the API supported by Apple.

• At the moment a user runs an app after installing via an ad, the advertiser should call the API supported by Apple in the app.

• Advertisers should design their server to get install postback from Apple, within 24 to 48 hours after the attribution via the SKAdNetwork campaign.

• If you want to read a more detailed guide, please see the apple document on the link [SKAdNetwork Guide-Apple]

Support

adbrix is supporting the advertiser, marketer, and ad network to deal with iOS14. This new policy is a huge transformation based on the iOS ad environment. We have made an email group only for iOS14, feel free to ask anything about iOS14. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

about-ios14@adbrixsupport.zendesk.com