The head of the US Federal Communications Commission said it had asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores over data security concerns. Pictured here is the TikTok download page on Apple iPhone on August 7, 2020.
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The Google-Facebook online advertising duopoly may be breaking up.
According to a survey published Tuesday by Appsumer, Apple is gaining momentum in digital advertising, while Google and Facebook appear to be losing steam.
The research, based on an analysis of the online advertising budgets of more than 100 different consumer app companies, found that Apple’s ad business benefited from the company’s major iOS privacy update in 2021, which made it harder for companies like Facebook to track users on the Internet.
Apple Search Ads allow people to advertise in the iPhone maker’s App Store. Advertiser adoption for the second quarter rose nearly 4 percentage points from a year earlier to 94.8 percent, while Facebook adoption fell 3 percentage points to 82.8 percent, Appsumer said. Google’s ratio dropped 2 points to 94.8%.
According to Appsumer, which is owned by InMobi, Apple has joined the duopoly of Facebook and Google in the top advertiser adoption table.
Shumel Lais, general manager at Appsumer, attributes Apple’s improved standing to an increase in the number of app developers willing to pay big bucks to boost downloads. At the same time, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) update limited the amount of data ad-based apps like Facebook can use to help brands with their online advertising campaigns.
“One of the things that’s quite interesting is that the ATT measurement restrictions that are placed on the wider network don’t exist in the same way for Apple,” Lais said. “So you could say that Apple has a little bit more visibility or an advantage over other iOS channels.”
The rise in Apple’s online developer ads reflects Amazon’s position in e-commerce as retailers spend more money promoting their products on the site they rely on for customers.
In terms of app developers’ total spending on online advertising, called share of wallet, Google remains at the top with 34%. Facebook is second with 28%, followed by Apple with 15%. Amazon wasn’t on the list because it’s not a developer platform.
At the lower end of the market, TikTok overtook Snap, which was also hit by ATT. TikTok has a 3% market share and Snap has 2%, Appsumer said.
Despite surpassing Snap, TikTok’s adoption rate fell by nearly 7 percentage points in the second quarter. Lais said app developers are still trying to figure out what ads work well on the short video service.
“Maybe brands are still adjusting to make TikTok work for every vertical,” Lais said.
The numbers weren’t bad for Facebook. Its share of the portfolio rose 4 points to 28% in the fourth quarter, indicating the social media company is experiencing some “signs of recovery,” Lais said. In July, Facebook’s parent company Meta reported a bigger-than-expected drop in second-quarter revenue and said sales would fall again year-on-year in the third quarter.
Lais said Facebook takes advantage of the randomness of ads compared to Google and Apple, which show ads based on search terms.
“Facebook still has a lot of unique properties and people are in a mindset where they’re in discovery mode, so there’s still opportunity,” Lais said.
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