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A huge swath of American consumers will soon have to make a choice about how they support their favorite apps, and an entire industry is on the edge of their seat, waiting. Why? Because Apple made it so. They even made a very big deal of it on World Privacy Day in January.
Unleashing the Power of Flutter
If you’ve updated and successfully removed the red notification from your settings app, it also means you are now using the new operating system and according to Apple, “Privacy. That’s iPhone.”
While their “Privacy” ads don’t explain how the company protects your information, anyone working in mobile can explain, firstly, that it now requires apps to tell you exactly which information they would gather, if given permission, in what Apple is calling a “Privacy Nutrition Label:”
Now that you know exactly what they would gather from you, you have the option to opt-in to data information gathering and tracking.
So maybe it’s time to think about what you want out of your app experiences. More specifically, what is the purpose of app tracking and sharing your data with that developer? What is the benefit of saying “Allow” when that modal pops up?
First, many app developers have functionalities within their app that require some level of data about you in order to serve you their experience as it was intended. You can’t check the weather or traffic where you are without opting into location tracking.
Second, while most people dislike ads, they aren’t going away anytime soon. Those weather, traffic, and even mobile gaming apps are free, and the people who create them need to get paid — so unless you’re paying to upgrade that app or buying items within it, you’re going to get ads.
If you opt out of that tracking option, the advertising you receive will be generic ads that will likely annoy you even further. Remember the early web? Viagra ads were seemingly everywhere . Think about that … but with video and more!
When you opt in to being tracked for the sake of advertising, to sharing that ID, you’re saying, “I support the advertising model where I receive value (i.e., news, gaming, entertainment) in exchange for my attention. I recognize that content creators need to make a living.” It’s a value exchange, just like seeing commercials when you watch TV, Hulu, and so on.
Even if I didn’t work in advertising, I would take that trade. Why? Because I live in Texas where barbecue is practically a religion. To perfect my own technique, I watch BBQ channels on YouTube. If those guys (shout out to John Setzler and Malcolm Reed) weren’t compensated by ads, I don’t think the content created would be nearly as well thought-out nor frequent. It would be their hobby, not a job or a side gig.
But for the rest of us, it’s not so obvious.
Written by: Jonathan Harrop who is Senior Director, Global Marketing & Communications at AdColony.
