Maybe That’s Why
As the ad tech industry plans its tentative next steps in a post-iOS 27 world, one pressing question is: “Why is Apple blocking ID vendors now?”
After all, Apple WebKit has been singing the same privacy and tracking tune for years.
But there’s been a recent flood of research that paints a very grim picture of ad tech and makes the WebKit team seem downright reasonable.
Most people probably haven’t checked out “Bridging the Gap: A Longitudinal Analysis of Extended Identifiers in the Post-Cookie Era,” an academic paper produced by the New Jersey Institute of Technology and a couple well-known names in ad tech analytics, DeepSee.io and Adalytics. But it’s a compelling study showing how extended identifiers (EIDs) can reproduce persistent user-level tracking without cookies. It was published in September.
Then, last week, cybersecurity firms Report URI and iVerify documented how bad actors are using expired web domains with ad tags to infiltrate iPhones and swipe keychain passwords for crypto wallets. All the attackers need is for the page and its ads to load, no ad click required.
And a week before that, Confiant and the University of Toronto’s CitizenLab published a report describing “zero-click mercenary spyware delivered via targeted ads.” Ads bought by Discover-Tech were allegedly used by spyware provider Candiru to spy on Al Jazeera journalists across 45 different devices.
So, yeah, maybe Apple is on to something.
A Winning Formula?
Apple TV doesn’t stream outside commercials or work with brand sponsors except in live sports, unlike many of the other streamers and networks in Hollywood.
Still, Apple’s ads business has apparently gotten a huge boost from its partnership with Formula 1, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Apple TV has the exclusive streaming rights to F1 races and is able to negotiate deals with existing sponsors that already appear on F1 cars and uniforms, like American Express and Ford.
For Apple TV’s inaugural F1 season this year, viewership is reportedly up double digits compared to when ESPN aired its races last season. More importantly for advertisers, brand lift studies on F1 sponsors yielded positive results in familiarity, favorability and purchase intent, beating overall US CTV benchmarks.
Apple Ads VP Todd Teresi claims that the company’s goal is not to “grow advertising at all costs,” but to create a “balanced model” for the consumer and advertiser alike.
Traditionally, success with ad sales begets even more ads, not less. But maybe the relative scarcity of Apple’s advertising placements compared to other streamers is a benefit for brands. It’s easier to recall one ad than it is to remember 20 of them.
Camera Shy
The twin revolutions of retail media and API-based data feeds can lead to some pretty controversial integrations.
For instance, retailers such as Ulta, Lowe’s and Home Depot have touted their relationships with Flock, which operates a nationwide network of street cameras for vehicle tracking, Marketing Brew reports. Those partnerships are ostensibly all about dealing with crime (“director of organized retail crime” is an actual position at Ulta, btw).
Retailers have merged their strategies around safety and breakage (including theft) with retail media in other ways, too. Like incentivizing customers to download an app to open a locked store shelf. The armored car and safe manufacturer Brink’s even has a retail media and data sales arm.
But back to the topic of Flock: Remember MapQuest? It’s owned by the performance marketing company System1 now. And two weeks ago, MapQuest released a feature that displays Flock and other street-level surveillance camera networks, such as Axon Enterprise, Motorola Solutions and PlateSmart, to name a few.
MapQuest GM Doug Berger says tracking these cameras is consistently a top request from users who are wary of surveillance. And those Flock cameras are unpopular for a reason.
So brands have a marketing opportunity whether they partner with Flock or help people avoid it.
But Wait! There’s More!
Social-based creators are taking off, but they can’t make much if they do the news. [Digiday]
Meta says its Muse users are shopping and spending hundreds of dollars per purchase. Who’s buying? [Business Insider]
Apple has its most exciting phone in years. But there are growing pains. [Bloomberg]
You’re Hired!
Former Moloco exec Dock Kim joins Bidease as VP of biz dev. [release]
