5 ms·
FWIW I run a D2C brand and the iOS 14 change hurt badly. We are able to attribute something like half of the sales we used to. The main consequence of this is
by mparr4 5y ago
FWIW I run a D2C brand and the iOS 14 change hurt badly.
We are able to attribute something like half of the sales we used to. The main consequence of this is the FB models can't learn who our customers are as well, resulting in an increase in our cost of customer acquisition.
It makes selling niche products much harder.
- phh 5y agoAm I understanding correctly that your issue is merely about attribution, and not that advertisement is actually less useful?
- ruhdgjns 5y agoIt goes hand in hand. First, if you can’t measure conversions and tie them back to advertising, then how can you know if it’s effective? Second, if you can’t measure effectiveness how to A/B test your approach? Finally, without labeled data how you train ML models? The whole house of cards stood upon attribution.
- phh 5y ago> First, if you can’t measure conversions and tie them back to advertising, then how can you know if it’s effective? I don't think Coca Cola needed attribution to know their ads were effective in 1900, maybe we should ask them? > Second, if you can’t measure effectiveness how to A/B test your approach? You can still use either time, geographical or UA-based AB testing without requiring attribution > Finally, without labeled data how you train ML models? Are you saying the final objective of tracking is actually to feed AGI as most data about our world as possible? That's an interesting point of view, I never thought about ML modeling as an end-goal.
- ruhdgjns 5y agoI don’t think you’re engaging in good faith. You can answer your own retorts if you think about it from the view of a modern advertiser.
- titusjohnson 5y agoI think the argument is that _you_ are not engaging in good faith, as you are assuming that the _views of the modern advertiser_ somehow appear on anyones list of things to even consider. The individual you are replying to is giving you good indications that all the things you are worrying about _are not necessary_ for you to do your job. They're a crutch. Go back to the fundamentals.
- mparr4 5y agoI don't agree with you that ruhdgjns is not engaging in good faith. He's engaging with my comment. Given that I am a D2C business owner and therefore a modern advertiser, that's a pretty reasonable view for him to consider. Re: "go back to fundamentals" and "not necessary", I wish it were so simple. In my comment I mention that it makes selling niche products much harder, which is absolutely the case. Some businesses just can't exist without good targeting. Maybe we as a society don't want those businesses to exist, and that's fine, but it's not as simple of a matter of these businesses needing to be better at advertising. With good targeting a business can exist that only has a small subset of customers in the world. A business like this likely can't afford to acquire customers via traditional advertising. This makes many D2C businesses much harder and a subset of those businesses won't be able to succeed at all in this climate. Again, I'm not passing any judgement on whether that's a good thing or a bad thing for society, just that it is the case. Good targeting is absolutely necessary for some businesses.
- GekkePrutser 5y agoCouldn't you advertise or sponsor user groups, forums, clubs etc? Niche brands are not a thing of this century alone. I think there's other ways to reach your audience without having to use targeted ads on generic sites and apps. Also don't forget that ads are being minimised as a phenomenon by users, not just by Apple. In Europe tech sites are already seeing more than 50% of visitors blocking ads. Most quote pervasive tracking as the reason. In many ways Apple is following the trend, not leading it, and trying to take away the reason for user objections to ads.
- samwillis 5y agoSimilar position here, although we recently launched a new product that so far is only advertised through Facebook. Based on that we believe Facebook can only attribute 40-50% of conversion events. Facebook is going to have to do something drastic to improve this situation, I suspect they are going to push advertisers to fold their store/checkout into Facebook so a customer never leaves the app. It will be the only way to track all conversion events.
- Tagbert 5y agoThen I expect you will lose more customers who object to that practice.
- mensetmanusman 5y agoThese changes make it harder for local businesses to advertise directly, so it strengths the ‘winner take all’ amazons of the world. Interesting feedback loops here that might not have been predicted.
- lanza 5y agolol Apple knew damn well what would happen. They are a business. This was a good business move for them. Being able to advertise it as privacy just boosted it to a fantastic business move.