The iOS 14.5 update: what is the impact for you as an advertiser?

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The iOS 14.5 update: what is the impact for you as an advertiser?

Paid Advertising
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During the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2020, Apple announced iOS 14: the next update to its iOS operating system. We are now at update 14.5, but this time it’s more than just another upgrade. The update to iOS 14.5 includes new features, but more importantly, it will impact how businesses manage ads on Facebook, Instagram, and to a lesser extent, Google. All users with an iPhone 6 or later can update to iOS 14.5. This means millions of users worldwide, so it’s definitely worth following this update closely and preparing accordingly!

Every iOS update brings new features for users. Some examples of new features in iOS 14.5 are the App Library, App Clips, an expansion of Apple Maps, and new privacy features.

It’s mostly the users who will notice the new functions in practice. But can you, as an advertising company or online marketer, continue your work as you did before? No, the iOS 14.5 update also has significant consequences for advertising on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Consequences for Facebook and Instagram Advertising

No Automatic Consent to Share Data

Unlike the era before iOS 14.5, users will now see a pop-up asking for explicit consent to share their data. There is a high chance that many users will not give their consent. As a marketer, you will primarily feel this impact in your ads (sponsored content) targeted at specific interest or remarketing audiences. If users do not give consent for tracking, Facebook will make an estimate of behavior and show “probability data.”

Remarketing Becomes More Challenging

Because many users no longer want to be tracked, Facebook itself will have access to less essential data. Often, these are the kinds of data marketers need for remarketing, such as (mobile) website visits or clicks on an ad.

Real-Time Reporting Is No Longer Truly Real-Time

For real-time reporting, there can now be up to a three-day delay. This is because reporting will occur when Facebook receives the data from the operating system, not at the exact moment.

Conversion Events

From now on, you will be able to set only eight conversion events per domain. These might include actions like ‘contacting’, ‘adding a product’, ‘subscribing’, ‘purchasing’, etc. As a marketer, you will need to define your goals and priorities more precisely.

Click-Throughs and View-Throughs: Attribution Periods

The maximum periods within which Facebook attributes a conversion to an ad (for example, in the case of a click-through) will change: seven days for a click-through and one day for a view-through. This is shorter than before.

Custom and Lookalike Audiences: Reduced Effectiveness

Since Facebook will receive less data, it is expected that custom and lookalike audiences will decrease in size and effectiveness. This includes things like email lists and website visitors.

Impact on Google Ads

The iOS 14.5 update not only affects your ads on Facebook and Instagram but also has implications for Google Ads, although the impact here is more limited. This is partly because Google is less reliant on ads through mobile usage. As a marketer, it’s important to be aware of the following consequences:

Fluctuating Performance

You may notice that Google campaigns on iOS could experience disruptions in delivery and performance.

Additionally, campaigns through Google Display, Discovery, and YouTube with interest-based targeting will also be impacted, with a loss of data and slightly poorer performance. A specific type of campaign that will certainly be affected is Google Universal App Campaigns, as they are particularly focused on iOS users.

Remarketing

Unfortunately, you can expect a smaller audience size and a lower match rate with customers.

How can advertisers effectively deal with the iOS 14.5 update?

General Recommendation

Measure your results through Google Analytics

By measuring your results through Google Analytics, you get all your data in one centralized view. This way, you can make proper comparisons and draw accurate conclusions across all your ads and advertising channels.

Prepare your Facebook campaigns

After reading the above consequences, you may feel the urge to panic. However, panic is not the best adviser! Take a proactive approach to Apple’s new update and fine-tune some settings. That way, you will be well-prepared. Keep in mind that online marketing is mostly about adjusting, adjusting, and adjusting again. Here are three actions you definitely shouldn’t forget:

1. Set up ‘Conversions API’

Currently, Facebook pixels play an important role in tracking conversions. With the iOS 14.5 update, or in the case of ad blockers on Facebook, there’s a chance that this data may no longer be processed. An alternative to Facebook pixels is the Conversions API, which allows you to send conversions to Facebook without interference from ad blockers or iOS updates. This way, Facebook can still optimize your campaigns.

2. Verify your domain with Facebook

Verify your domain and let Facebook know which domain or website belongs to your business manager. This will also prevent potential issues with conversion events. Don’t wait too long to do this!

There are three ways to verify your domain: via DNS verification, uploading an HTML file, or adding a meta tag.

3. Create a plan for 8 conversion events

As mentioned, you will now be able to choose from eight conversion events. This is the ideal time to analyze whether your conversions are still relevant. Review your current conversion settings and validate whether they truly add value. If they no longer give a clear picture of what’s generating value for you or if they are old conversions that are no longer in use, it’s better to remove them.

IOS-14 wijzigingen

Prepare your Google campaigns

The impact of the iOS 14.5 update on Google Ads is more limited, but it’s still best to approach it proactively.

1. Consider Google’s Modeled Conversions

When data cannot be attributed to individual users, Google offers the option to use modeled conversions. These modeled conversions rely on Machine Learning and utilize data that cannot be traced back to individual users. They are used when Google cannot directly track conversions, such as when the new update is rolled out. Google uses signals that can be observed, such as the device and conversion type, as well as the date and time. These modeled conversions offer several benefits:

  • Comprehensive measurement of all advertising traffic
  • Efficient campaign optimization
  • Better omnichannel marketing
  • More accurate conversion measurements

2. Adjust your apps

App developers also need to ensure their apps comply with the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) rules. Keep in mind that campaigns targeting app installations may receive less traffic. This blog post doesn’t go into further details on this, but for more information on the adjustments, we refer you to Google’s support page on this topic: Google Ads support on app tracking.

Conclusion on the iOS 14.5 Update: Don’t Panic, Act Flexibly

Did you underestimate this Apple update? Are you breaking out in a cold sweat? There’s no need to worry. While Apple and Facebook may not be the best of friends anymore, in practice, you’ll still be able to enjoy the many benefits of strong online marketing.

At Hybrid, we stay calm and prefer to look at alternatives. Need a refresher or feeling lost in the details? Let’s summarize the top 3 recommendations from this post:

  • Implement Facebook’s ‘Conversions API’ to resolve issues with remarketing, conversion tracking, and similar challenges.
  • Get your data from Google Analytics. This is always recommended to make consistent comparisons across campaigns and channels.
  • Don’t fixate on the maximum of eight conversion events.
    • For e-commerce, five events are usually sufficient (View content, Add to cart, Purchase, and Initiate Checkout).
    • If your site focuses on lead-generation (where you want to distinguish SQLs and MQLs), six conversion goals are typically enough.

The update was released on April 26, 2021, and one thing is certain: you shouldn’t ignore it, and it’s best to act quickly to adjust your settings. Need help with this? Contact our team and discover how we can support your online marketing efforts.