A bit ambiguous: Moloco reports that mobile acquisition costs have grown by more than 200% for tracked users and 155% for non-tracked users since Apple introduced its enhanced privacy controls in iOS 14.5 in April. That’s bad news for advertisers but good news for consumers whose privacy preferences are being respected. Two thirds of ad bids (67.5%) now come from users who have opted out of tracking.
Also cheery: this GeoEdge study finds that slightly more advertising said ad quality challenges got better (40%) than worse (35%) in the past year. By next year, more expect contextual fit to be their biggest challenge (51%) than brand safety (43%). This reverses years of increasing concern. Concerted industry efforts get credit, and let’s note that IAB Tech Lab has just launched a Transparency Center to further improve ad reliability.
Welcome to “Trends Nobody Else Cares About Day” at CDP Institute. We’ll start with Gap Inc.’s acquisition of virtual fitting room app Drapr, which lets consumers try on clothes remotely. This one’s a two-fer: it illustrates the trend for retailers to buy tech companies rather than just using their products, and the trend of virtual dressing rooms, following Walmart’s purchase of Zeekit in May. Woot!
Preliminary findings by the European Commission state that Apple and Google are in violation of the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Among the findings, Google Search is accused of prioritizing Google’s own products and services in results; Apple is instructed to improve interoperability between iOS and third-party devices. The companies now have an opportunity to respond.