Apple Details Ways Advertisers Can Measure the Impact of Ads Without Tracking Users Ahead of iOS 14.5 Launch

Starting with iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5, Apple will be requiring apps to receive a user's permission to track their activity for targeted advertising purposes, as part of a privacy measure known as App Tracking Transparency.

To help advertisers adjust to this change, Apple today shared a new version of its "A Day in the Life of your Data" document with details on two privacy-preserving ad measurement technologies that advertisers can use to measure the impact of their ad campaigns without tracking users, including SKAdNetwork and Private Click Measurement.

Apple says SKAdNetwork lets advertisers know how many times an app was installed after ads for it were seen, without any user or device data being shared. Likewise, Private Click Measurement allows advertisers to measure the impact of ads that lead users to a website while minimizing data collection using on-device processing. Apps can use Private Click Measurement starting with iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5.

"A Day in the Life of your Data" has also been updated with new information that details how advertisers bid in an auction to show their ad on a user's device, and how advertisers use ad attribution to optimize their ad campaigns.

Apple reiterated that iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, and tvOS 14.5 will be released in early spring, but no specific timeframe was outlined. In a recent interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the updates will be released in "just a few weeks."