Apple has announced that it will provide a prompt for iPhone and iPad users on each app to choose whether to allow third-party sites & apps (such as Facebook and other social media sites) to track their user data.
At ADM, we support innovative, growth-minded companies. We’re dedicated to supporting our clients and our network in the industry-changing transition to iOS 14.5. We are here to help, so please contact us if you have any questions.
What Every Facebook Advertiser Needs To Know About iOS 14.5
Ad Reporting
- Real-time data will no longer be available for iOS 14 users who opt-out of third-party tracking
- Audience breakdowns, such as age and gender, will be removed
- The default attribution window will change from 28-day click, 1-day view to 7-day click, 1-day view
Ad Targeting
- As more individuals opt-out of tracking on iOS 14.5 devices, Facebook will receive less user & audience data. This will impact Facebook’s ability to find users within the specified targeting parameters
- Dynamic ad audiences will be based on fewer internal and external data signals which could affect audience size and quality
Recommended Next Steps
Reporting
Before Facebook removes 28-day attribution from your Ads Manager reporting, we recommend:
- Pull the 28-day click, 1-day view metrics for the past year, by month, for your ad account
- Pull the 7-day click, 1-day view metrics for the past year, by month, for your ad account
- Compare the difference between the two attribution windows to prepare for what post-iOS 14.5 reporting will look like
Web-based Advertisers
If you are a web-based advertiser, there are two action items you should complete before iOS 14.5 is released.
- Domain Verification
- Prioritizing Website Standard Events
Domain Verification
Facebook is requiring all domains that you drive ad traffic towards to be verified. Domain verification should be done within your Business Manager so that you retain ownership of your domain. If you do not verify your domain, Facebook will not allow you to run ads to your website once iOS 14.5 rolls out.
If you have a third party, such as an agency like ADM, verify your domain in their business manager, you risk not being able to access or edit your domain in the future. Once verified in your Business Manager, you can grant partner access to your domain.
There are three ways to verify your domain:
- Add a meta tag to the <head> section of your domain home page
- Add a DNS TXT entry to your DNS record to confirm that you own the domain
- Upload an HTML file provided by Facebook to your web directory and confirm domain ownership in Business Manager.
Note: Domain Verification must be done at the top level domain. For example, for www.books.jasper.com, books.jasper.com and jasper.com, the domain to be verified is jasper.com.
For more information on domain verification, please refer to this Facebook help center article.
Prioritizing Website Standard Events
Facebook will only be able to pass back information on your highest prioritized event so it is important to arrange your events in priority order. An example for an eCommerce account is below.
- Purchase (4 slots for value optimization)
- Initiate Checkout
- Add to Cart
- View Content
In the example above, if an iOS 14.5 user who opted out of tracking clicks on the Facebook ad and makes a purchase, only the purchase event will be reported. Facebook will not pass back reporting data for the lower priority events.
If the same user had added a product to their cart but did not initiate a checkout or purchase, the Add to Cart event would be reported as it is the highest prioritized event.
Each verified domain will be limited to eight events. Here is a helpful guide on how to set the priority of your events.
App-Based Advertisers
If you are an app-based advertiser, there are three action items you should complete before iOS 14.5 is released.
- Update Your SDK
- Prioritize Events
- ATE Flag
Update Your SDK
If you are running app-based campaigns, you must upgrade to the latest version of Facebook’s SDK (v8.1 or higher).
Prioritize Events
Event prioritization will be available for app-based campaigns through the SKAdNetwork configurations. Facebook provides three event prioritization options:
Use Recommendations
-
- Confirm events Facebook has recommended for you based on your available data
- Facebook recommends selecting this option if you use the Facebook SDK
Import From Partner App
-
- If you use a third-party Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP), you can configure your events from your partner’s platform
- Facebook recommends selecting this option if you use a partner integration that allows you to set up your configuration schema on their site
Customize
-
- Choose and configure each event and value set individually
- Facebook recommends selecting this option if you use App Events API or Facebook SDK and want to configure your events to make them consistent with your event configuration on other platforms
ATE Flag
If you are using any app-based business tools such as the FB SDK, App Events API, or MMP SDKs, you will need to use the “Advertiser Tracking Enabled” flag to instruct Facebook to restrict data use on a per-event basis. Please reference this developer guide where there is ATE flag guidance.
For higher-level app-based questions, it is recommended to read this article that is regularly updated by the Facebook team.
