AdTech is in the middle of evolutionary changes as privacy-focused initiatives are changing the landscape. When Apple announced its changes to ATT, advertisers were left with the challenge of how user attribution on iOS would work. For this reason, the shift to privacy is a challenge that marketers must conquer if they are to effectively market their products and services in the future. With the changes to ATT, Apple also announced its SKAdNetwork (SKAN) way back in 2018, to approach attribution within the Apple ecosystem. SKAN mechanism would help advertisers measure and optimize their campaigns in a more privacy-centric way. It provides aggregated data rather than user-level data, ensuring that individual users are not identifiable. This shift necessitates a fundamental change in how advertisers measure and optimize their campaigns. While SKAN has been around for a while now, advertisers in India are still navigating the waters to understand how this attribution mechanism differs from the usual way of IDFA-based campaigns.
This blog post delves into understanding the basics of SKAN while deep-diving into how it works differently from IDFA.
In India, where the tracking opt-in rate remains low, SKAN has become an important tool for campaign optimization and growing iOS users. With the decline of IDFA, privacy-centric advertising is no longer optional but essential. Indian advertisers must prioritize user consent and transparency. Ensure that your apps and websites are compliant with Apple’s ATT framework by providing clear and concise information about how user data will be used and obtaining explicit consent for tracking. To target the relevant users, there's a greater focus on contextual targeting to deliver the ads within the right context, improve engagement, and move away from solely depending on user data.
IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers), an identifier number assigned to iOS devices, which was launched by Apple in 2012. It facilitates advertisers to track user data and provide ads that are personalized without the necessity to share one’s private data. Just like cookies used in mobile game tracking, IDFAs are device-specific. They assist advertisers in identifying various events occurring within an application and specific user interactions with the ad campaigns. This tracking is useful in payment and attribution because it tracks the distinct clicks made by a particular user on the advertisement. Historically, IDFAs have been instrumental in helping advertisers with user metrics and overall advertisement performance.
SKAN (StoreKit Ad Network), can be described as an attribution solution for ad campaigns based on iOS that focuses on protecting the privacy of users. In that way, it enables measuring ad installs and conversion rates while not containing any information on specific users or devices. SKAN was launched in May 2018 and was initially an opt-in that provided mobile app install attribution to protect user privacy.
The primary distinction is the nature of the data it uses and what can be traced with it for the user’s behavior.
Every time a client clicks on an advertisement delivered by a DSP or an ad network, the advertisement records numerous campaign parameters relating to creativity, placement, audience, and geo. The Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) retains the IDFA data about the app at the time of the click through the app store. Once the user downloads the application from the app store based on the install campaign, the MMP gets a real-time install postback associates it with the recorded IDFA data, and assigns the conversion to the DSP or ad network. The MMP then sends the install postback to the DSP or ad network as well as the user IDFA and detailed conversion information.
Within the SKAN process, when the user interacts with the ad placed by the DSP or ad network, the ad contains an ID with up to 100 of the values that are defined by the advertiser and can include different campaign parameters, such as campaign, creative, and placement. Upon this, a 24-hour timer is set due to the installation of the app by the user. If the user takes another action that changes the SKAdNetwork Conversion Value, like signing up on the app or making a purchase, the countdown begins again in 24 hours. If the Conversion Value does not change within 24 hours then A postback to the DSP is made within the next 0 to 24 hours not when the timer is stopped.
At the WW͏DC 2024 event, Apple͏ unveiled the AdAttributionKit as ͏a successor to SKAN. Despite these significant changes, AAK shares many similarities with the attribution mechanism. App͏l͏e's information suggests that ͏both can work together s͏moothly͏, allowing current setups to move over with only minor adjustments in terms used. Updates in SKAN 4.0 now allow for multiple postback͏s͏ within extended periods permitting improved͏ conversion tracking over varying intervals (͏0-2 days, 3-7 days, and 8-35 days)͏. Source identifiers have expanded hierarchically for enhanced attribution insights, while coarse-grained conversion values ha͏ve been introduced to provide more adaptable da͏ta for smaller campaigns that͏ do not reach rigid privacy thresholds. More so, ͏the latest version supports web-to-app at͏tribution boosting c͏ross-channel marketing capabilities.
As Apple’s privacy ecosystem continues to evolve, advertisers need to keep abreast with trends and integrate with programmatic partners that are prepared for this privacy-first era of mobile advertising. It is crucial to stress that the post-IDFA environment necessitates constant testing, close cooperation with MMPs, and a need for advertisers to keep privacy as the cornerstone of their user acquisition initiatives