What’s Happening with iOS 17?
Apple released the public beta of iOS 17, iPadOD 17, and macOS Sonoma at their World-Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in July. Ahead of the full release, curious developers can visit Apple’s Beta Software Program Website. The iOS 17 release will tentatively launch in September 2023. It will cause click ID changes impacting campaign measurement for advertisers in the US, CA, AU, and the UK.
What iOS 17 Changes Will Affect Ad Campaign Measurement?
Apple announced that the Safari Browser (powered by Apple’s Browser Engine, WebKit.org) will automatically remove tracking parameters from URLs when:
- Browsing in private mode in Safari
- Clicking on a link from a text message application
- Clicking on a link from the mail application
Users can disable this feature in regular or private browsing modes on their devices.
What Do iOS 17 Tracking Changes Mean for Your Paid Media Campaigns?
When a user clicks an ad, Google and Meta’s platforms generate a string of numbers and letters that represent which ad a user came from (i.e. click IDs or CLIDs). This data can funnel into CRMs to inform media planning and ad targeting.
Apple’s new policy affects these URL parameters, aka GCLID and FBCLID, and, as a result, impacts media strategy moving forward.
Why Does the iOS 17 Advertising Impact Matter?
The demand for media attribution and accurate measurement is on the rise. Marketers look for insights to gauge return on ad spend (ROAS). Without the help of click IDs, it’s difficult for ad platforms to report what people do after clicking ads over time. Machine learning relies on this data to continue serving ads to the most qualified prospective customers. The iOS 17 update calls all of this into question.
Our iOS 17 Predictions for CMOs
The cat and mouse game of ad tracking will continue.
Google and Meta could find another way to dynamically introduce a GCLID to the loaded web page even if it is not in the address bar. As a media agency, we speculate that Google or Meta may provide additional code snippets for advertisers to place on their sites. It would produce a GLCID value, but stored in a data layer rather than the URL.
One thing remains certain: ad platforms will respond with measurement solutions, because their existence depends on it. Make sure your tech stack, marketing teams/vendors, and media attribution methods are current to keep up.
If you have questions about privacy-centric measurement for your paid media campaigns, we’re here to help. Sign up for our newsletter for more.
What’s Happening with iOS 17?
Apple released the public beta of iOS 17, iPadOD 17, and macOS Sonoma at their World-Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in July. Ahead of the full release, curious developers can visit Apple’s Beta Software Program Website. The iOS 17 release will tentatively launch in September 2023. It will cause click ID changes impacting campaign measurement for advertisers in the US, CA, AU, and the UK.
What iOS 17 Changes Will Affect Ad Campaign Measurement?
Apple announced that the Safari Browser (powered by Apple’s Browser Engine, WebKit.org) will automatically remove tracking parameters from URLs when:
- Browsing in private mode in Safari
- Clicking on a link from a text message application
- Clicking on a link from the mail application
Users can disable this feature in regular or private browsing modes on their devices.
What Do iOS 17 Tracking Changes Mean for Your Paid Media Campaigns?
When a user clicks an ad, Google and Meta’s platforms generate a string of numbers and letters that represent which ad a user came from (i.e. click IDs or CLIDs). This data can funnel into CRMs to inform media planning and ad targeting.
Apple’s new policy affects these URL parameters, aka GCLID and FBCLID, and, as a result, impacts media strategy moving forward.
Why Does the iOS 17 Advertising Impact Matter?
The demand for media attribution and accurate measurement is on the rise. Marketers look for insights to gauge return on ad spend (ROAS). Without the help of click IDs, it’s difficult for ad platforms to report what people do after clicking ads over time. Machine learning relies on this data to continue serving ads to the most qualified prospective customers. The iOS 17 update calls all of this into question.
Our iOS 17 Predictions for CMOs
The cat and mouse game of ad tracking will continue.
Google and Meta could find another way to dynamically introduce a GCLID to the loaded web page even if it is not in the address bar. As a media agency, we speculate that Google or Meta may provide additional code snippets for advertisers to place on their sites. It would produce a GLCID value, but stored in a data layer rather than the URL.
One thing remains certain: ad platforms will respond with measurement solutions, because their existence depends on it. Make sure your tech stack, marketing teams/vendors, and media attribution methods are current to keep up.
If you have questions about privacy-centric measurement for your paid media campaigns, we’re here to help. Sign up for our newsletter for more.
