Apple Launches Business Connect to Give Businesses More Control of Local Presence
Apple this week announced the launch of Business Connect, a new feature that allows businesses of all sizes to control how they appear to Apple Maps users. The move comes as consumers increasingly use maps apps to discover local businesses, whether by browsing an area or searching for a specific kind of business near them.
How Much Longer Can Apple Ignore the Needs of App Developers?
Developers long favored iOS as it offered the best ability to monetize, the most valuable audiences, and the highest revenue per thousand impressions (RPM) in the app ecosystem. But are the scales now tipping in Google’s favor? Google’s recent billing move puts new pressure on Apple — an added pressure that may have contributed to the lack of new anti-tracking rules announced at Apple’s recent Worldwide Developer Conference.
Mobile Apps Show Strong User and Engagement Growth
Privacy headwinds as well as the advent of the metaverse and a new wave of hardware have led many to question the future of mobile’s place at the center of digital marketing. But according to a new report by mobile marketing measurement company Adjust, mobile is experiencing significant growth despite headwinds.
Location-Based Marketing Association: Google’s Location Tracking Lawsuit
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association discusses Google getting sued over deceptive location tracking, Apple going head to head with Square by making iPhone payment terminals, SavageXFenty rolling out AR-powered FIT:MATCH tech in-store, and Placewise partnering with Bambuser to bring physical malls to customers via livestream.
How Apple’s Latest Privacy Changes Will Affect Email Marketing
Last week, Apple rolled out iOS 15, which brought more privacy changes that could undermine tracking and disadvantage digital marketers. Most notably, the company’s Mail Privacy Protection policy will ask iOS device users whether they want to “protect” their mail or not, preventing marketers from determining whether consumers who “protect” their email opened messages.
Apple’s Long View of Data Privacy: Revisiting Jobs in 2010
But what is the source of Apple’s self-interest, which drives its approach to privacy? I want to suggest that it’s not just a short-sighted opportunity to one-up Facebook and rival smartphone maker Google. Unlike the vast majority of tech companies recently touting new approaches to privacy, Apple isn’t new to this party.
What Apple’s New Privacy Features Mean for Brand Marketers
With the biggest news from Apple pertaining to push notifications, email, IP addresses, and Apple Wallet, it is a critical time for marketers to reassess their strategies and get even smarter about how, when, and where they connect with customers. To state the obvious, more user-centric controls mean more opportunities for customers to shut down communications from brands who aren’t meeting their needs.
Triangulating Apple Maps: The Tech Angle
Apple surprised the local search world last month when it announced local business reviews in Maps. Similar to its other search-based efforts, Apple formerly relied on partners like Yelp for local listings and reviews. But now, as part of its broader data-driven Maps overhaul, it will phase in original content.
Much has been written about this within the local search publishing world and analyst corps, including my colleague Stephanie Miles’ article on how brands can prepare for Apple Maps reviews here on Street Fight. So in the interest of treading new ground, what less-discussed clues lie in Apple’s recent mapping moves that can triangulate its direction?
iOS14 and Privacy: What it Means for Advertisers, Especially on Facebook
The latest in the tug of war between consumer privacy and effective digital advertising pits Apple against Facebook, Google, and others. At stake for ad tech: significant revenue for ad publishers and app developers, effective ad results for advertisers, and more relevant ads for consumers. At stake for users: consumer privacy protection, the use of their behavioral data for marketing, and possibly, the future of “free” software.
Apple’s pending release of iOS 14 is a strong consumer-privacy-first stance and a potential disruption to digital marketing as we know it. But what is the real impact for targeted digital advertising?
Blocking Third-Party Cookies Will Not Mean the End of Marketing Attribution
The demise of third-party cookies will not mean the end of digital advertising and the ability to assign proper attribution to individuals engaging in various touchpoints along the buyer journey. Several entities are currently hashing out other methodologies brands can leverage to retrieve audience analytics.
Marketing attribution providers will continue to provide reliable data to enterprise marketers on consumers and their customer journeys through the sales funnel. Attribution providers worth their salt will not only make sure they are compliant with the tightened rules around cookies but also ensure their clients are following the letter of the law.
App Data, Privacy, and the IDFA Armageddon: Industry Leaders’ Takes
As an industry, we must embrace the new rules of iOS14 and create a sustainable future for both app developers and advertisers. I believe we can all agree that user consent is important for any app that monetizes through advertising. Also, there are options to provide user-level attribution and necessary data for performance advertising within Apple’s acceptable framework. I’d encourage all publishers to talk to Apple and seek clarification on process and end-user consent along with the use of IDFVs & SKAdNetwork product road map, etc.
I expect that publishers will aggressively move to optimize their sign-up funnels to maximize consent or live with campaign-only-level metrics and lose end-user targeting. If you’d like to continue to optimize towards ROAS, we encourage you to think of privacy consent as a step in the UA conversion funnel necessary to show targeted ads to consumers.
Apple’s Search Ad Business Triples in Market Share
AppsFlyer reports in its latest mobile advertising Performance Index that Apple Search Ads tripled in market share since 1H 2020. During the same period, other search ad competitors’ market share declined, the most consequential (read: billions in revenue) being Google and Meta.