Introduction
iOS 14
What Does This Mean for Facebook and Instagram Ads?
Facebook's Response:
Be Prepared for the Changes
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This 2021 brings a new version of iOS with privacy settings that have already started causing friction with Facebook. The full impact is not yet known, but today we bring you some information about what Apple has revealed and how Facebook has responded.
iOS 14
ApApple updated its privacy policies with the release of iOS 14. This new data protection system means that in order to collect information about a user, they must first accept a tracking notice. In other words, people will be asked if they want their activities to be tracked by apps and websites.
When installing an app, users will have the option to allow data collection or opt out from being tracked. Apple’s objective is to double the protection and security for users, but this new measure poses a significant problem for many platforms, especially those running ads.
What Does This Mean for Facebook and Instagram Ads?
The update will have a substantial impact on optimization, targeting, and campaign tracking on mobile devices. Without permission to track user activity, Facebook won’t be able to use that information for segmentation or conversion tracking—key metrics for evaluating ad performance.
This means that:
- Performance tracking will be limited and dependent on user approval. Actions of users who decline tracking will not be traceable, including purchases, adding to cart, conversions, etc.
- Ad personalization will be significantly reduced as you won’t have access to information about user actions.
- Building your audience will become more challenging as there won’t be data available on users who visited your site from an iOS 14 device.
- Certain campaign objectives, such as traffic, app installs, conversions, and catalog sales, will be affected.
Facebook’s Response:
Facebook’s response was swift. P On one hand, they positioned themselves as “Advocates for Small Businesses,” stating that these new privacy policies are harmful to brands whose primary sales channel is through these platforms.
On the other hand, they implemented changes to counter the update, some of which were controversial. Here are the main
events
As a primary measure, the platform introduced “Aggregated Event Measurement,” which, according to its definition, allows for campaign measurement in line with consumer privacy decisions.
As part of this, ad accounts will be limited to 8 conversion events per domain. These events will be ranked by Facebook based on activity, and when creating an ad set, you can only choose one of the eight for optimization actions the rest will be paused.
Moreover, if a user performs multiple consecutive events (e.g., site visit, product view, add to cart, and purchase), Facebook will only report the highest-ranking event.
This poses a new challenge for measuring, for example, products with the highest abandonment rate or the pages users navigated before making a selection.
Ads
The most significant change in this aspect concerns download campaigns, which must be created independently for iOS 14.
This means you’ll need to design specific campaigns for these operating systems with special characteristics.
The application can only be associated with one ad account, but a single account can advertise multiple applications.
Además,Simultaneous campaigns for iOS will be limited to 9, each with a maximum of 5 ad sets, and the only available buying option is the auction.
Reports:
This is one of the most crucial points. There will be significant limitations when measuring campaign performance on iOS devices.
The most significant change is related to the attribution window settings for the account. Options for 28 days after the click and 28 and 7 days after the view will no longer exist. The default attribution window will be 7 days after the click, but the following options will also be available:
- 1 day after the click
- 7 days after the click (default option)
- 1 day after the click and 1 day after the view
- 7 days after the click and 1 day after the view
Additionally, real-time reports will no longer be available, and data may be delayed by up to three days. Furthermore, delivery and action breakdowns by age, gender, region, and location for in-app and website conversions will no longer be provided.
Be Prepared for the Changes
Facebook also offered a series of tips to prepare ad accounts for these changes. Remember, everything will take effect when Apple decides to launch the iOS 14 update.
However, there are some changes you can already incorporate to familiarize yourself with them before they are automatically implemented.
- Verify your website’s domain to avoid future campaign interruptions.
- Analyze your reports to determine how many leads, sales, or other events come from iOS devices. This will help you anticipate how the update will impact your reports.
- If you have more than 8 events configured, select which ones you’ll use for future campaigns.
- Explore new communication channels with your customers, such as focusing on obtaining email addresses to work on your leads.
- Communicate with your customers and keep them informed about these steps.
Regarding reports:
- Compare conversions based on different attribution windows. This will prepare you for the changes you’ll see in your reports when intervals are modified automatically.
- Export historical data; don’t worry; once the changes are implemented, you’ll still have access to them through the API.
Automated changes will be applied when Apple implements its changes, so the sooner you implement these measures, the better.
What do you think about these new measures?
