Last year, as part of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14, Apple launched a number of important privacy features intended to help users make more informed decisions about their data.
App Tracking Transparency (ATT) requires apps to get user consent before tracking their data across apps or websites owned by other companies. Consumers will soon find a feature under settings that acts as a consent management tool to show which apps have requested permission to track, allowing them to make changes as they see fit. This requirement is expected to roll out in early spring with the upcoming release of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and tvOS 14.
IAB has participated in several direct and concerted global industry efforts to encourage Apple to reconsider the implementation of these changes and to work with the industry to develop acceptable alternatives to support a balanced approach to privacy.
In the meantime, IAB Tech Lab has been busy developing a tool for managing and maintaining SKAdNetwork ID list to get ahead of the situation.
Advertisers, DSPs, and networks can now register their SKAdNetwork IDs and IAB Tech Lab will publish a list of all registered IDs that can be downloaded by app developers and publishers. The SKAdNetwork, where SK stands for StoreKit, is part of an Apple framework for developers. The ad network API is meant to help advertisers measure the success of their ad campaigns while maintaining user privacy. This is an aggregate method and function embedded in iOS 14 to measure attribution of mobile ad campaigns for iOS apps.
App publishers will use SKAdNetwork IDs to grant their mobile advertising and attribution partners access to this aggregate campaign performance data. The SKAdNetwork ID list will help app publishers easily identify their partners and the accompanying SKAdNetwork IDs.
Networks, DSPs, Advertisers and others who support Apple’s SKAdNetwork API may now register for the IAB Tech Lab list.
App publishers or others looking for the list may download it for free as a JSON file within the Tech Lab Tools Portal or access via API endpoint. The file will be updated automatically with each new registration.
App developers can use this list data to create their plists. IAB Tech Lab’s Programmatic Supply Chain subgroup is focused on the SKAdNetwork solutions, and also actively working on a tool that will help simplify plist creation. Look for this tool in the Tech Lab codebank in the coming month.
IAB Tech Lab strongly urges Networks, DSPs, Advertisers and others who support the feature to register now, giving app developers time to integrate the relevant ID lists into their apps.
We are encouraged by the collaboration taking place in the face of monumental industry changes towards a cookieless and privacy-first design. Any effort towards open-sourced standards, resources or tools, is an effort towards a further splintering of the eco-system.
Further IAB Canada discussion on the topic of IOS14 updates will include a focused session with Facebook to discuss the impact to ads on the platform and will cover off critical issues like measurement, attribution and more. Look for an invite to this townhall-style session taking place in the coming weeks.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the IAB Tech Lab working groups, please contact us at memberships@iabcanada.com for details about how your IAB Canada membership gives your organization or individual team members exclusive access pricing. For inquiries about our working groups or to join committees like Mobile or Ad Ops, please contact us at councils@iabcanada.com