Apple-Commissioned Report Says App Tracking Transparency Hasn't Significantly Benefitted Company

Apple is unlikely to have seen a significant financial benefit from App Tracking Transparency since the privacy feature launched last year, according to Kinshuk Jerath, Professor of Business in the Marketing Division at Columbia Business School.

generic tracking prompt orange
In an Apple-commissioned report, Jerath said claims that billions of advertising dollars moved from companies like Meta to Apple due to the introduction of App Tracking Transparency are "speculative" and "lack supporting evidence."

Jerath provided three reasons for his opinion:

  • Apple's Search Ads business is a small part of the overall mobile advertising market
  • Growth in Apple's Search Ads business predated the introduction of App Tracking Transparency and is likely driven in part by other factors, such as continued overall growth of mobile ads and app install ads and the expansion of the Search Ads business to China in July 2021
  • Apple provides a prompt during the iOS setup process that enables users to turn off Personalized Ads on their device

In October 2021, the Financial Times reported that App Tracking Transparency had resulted in a "windfall" for Apple's advertising business. The report claimed that Apple's share of the mobile app advertising market tripled in the six months after the feature was introduced. Apple said the feature was designed to protect users and not to advantage the company.

Apple did not provide any internal figures to support the report's findings.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Releases First Betas of iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3

Monday December 16, 2024 10:06 am PST by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2. iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software update. There's no word yet on what's included in iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3, ...
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

Apple 'Working' on Redesigned Magic Mouse With a Long-Awaited 'Fix'

Sunday December 15, 2024 8:43 am PST by
Apple is working on a redesigned Magic Mouse that will address some "longstanding complaints," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said Apple in recent months has been working on a "full overhaul" of the Magic Mouse with a design that "better fits the modern era." However, he does not expect the new Magic Mouse to be released in the "next 12 to 18...
AirTag 2 Mock Feature

AirTag 2 Expected to Launch Next Year With 'Considerable' Upgrade to Item Tracking

Sunday December 15, 2024 2:57 pm PST by
Apple plans to release a second-generation AirTag next year with "considerably" longer range for item tracking, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new AirTag will use Apple's second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, or equivalent technology. The chip debuted last year in the iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Apple said it offers up...
iphone 17 pro concept render cameras

Major iPhone 17 Pro Redesign Backed by Supply Chain Info, Claims Leaker

Thursday December 12, 2024 4:36 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 17 Pro models will reportedly feature a major redesign, specifically centering around changes to the rear camera module, and now new supply chain information appears to confirm the striking change, according to a Chinese leaker. iPhone 17 Pro concept render Late last month, The Information's Wayne Ma claimed that the rear of the ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro and ‌iPhone 17‌ Pro...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

Most iPhone Users Uninterested in Apple Intelligence, Survey Suggests

Monday December 16, 2024 7:59 am PST by
iPhone users have largely avoided the Apple Intelligence features released prior to iOS 18.2, a new survey suggests. A survey conducted by SellCell, a tech trade-in platform, has revealed that while nearly half of iPhone users—47.6%—consider AI an important factor when purchasing a smartphone, 73% of those who have used Apple's AI offerings feel that the features add little to no value...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Reveals Most Downloaded Apps and Games of 2024

Monday December 16, 2024 6:30 am PST by
Apple today shared the most downloaded iPhone and iPad apps and games of the year, localized for more than 30 countries and regions around the world. The annual charts include the top free and paid apps and games, as well as the top Apple Arcade games, for the iPhone and iPad in the United States: Top Free iPhone Apps Temu: Shop Like a Billionaire Threads TikTok ChatGPT Go...

Top Rated Comments

HiVolt Avatar
35 months ago


Apple did not provide any internal figures to support the report's findings.
Hahaha, that's too funny. So here's a report, without any evidence.

Just like that other report about the success of third party apps on the App Store.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
35 months ago
"All this AD money doesn't actually benefit us!"
"Can you show us some data to support that?"
"No"

Super convincing Apple.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootsWalking Avatar
35 months ago
Regardless of the fact Apple commissioned the study and so the findings are hard to consider impartial, I would agree that Apple likely did not directly or unfairly benefit financially from their app transparency initiative. They however did benefit by engendering goodwill and trust from the initiative, thus earning them additional sales and customers. But that's how business is supposed to work - do good by your customers and they'll reward you in kind.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mousse Avatar
35 months ago

Just like the Microsoft commissioned report said dual-monitors increase productivity 50%.
If you do a lot of spreadsheet, then a 2nd monitor increases productivity several folds. Honest to gawd, ever since I went dual monitor a few years ago, I've been able to handle complex spreadsheet quickly and without a lot of hunting and scrolling.
Dual monitor is also nice when you do simple spreadsheets, because you can use then 2nd monitor for important stuff like MR.?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GMShadow Avatar
35 months ago

The report claimed that Apple's share of the mobile app advertising market tripled in the six months after the feature was introduced
I mean, you can go from .01% to .03% and triple your share.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Skyscraperfan Avatar
35 months ago
Apple makes money through ads? That is quite shocking news to me. If the start with this sh.., they might soon have to find a compromise between revenue and user privacy. They should not make a single Cent from ads.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)