A few days ago, I wrote a post praising Daring Fireball for it’s take on adtech’s panty-wetting reaction to Apple’s plan to require user permission before accessing the advertising ID (IDFA) on Apple devices. Adtech loves the IDFA because it allows them to uniquely identify a device and tie browsing activity back to the user to build a profile that they can sell or use to push targeted advertising.
The TL;DR of the dispute is that Apple is saying that before you can track our users you have to ask permission and the users have to agree. Adtech is right in seeing this as an existential threat because virtually nobody is going to agree to such tracking. Rather than considering how they might change their business models, the advertisers are simply throwing a temper tantrum and whining that Apple has no right to interfere with their spying on us.
The latest whiner is Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri who complains about how much this change is going to hurt small businesses in this time of pandemic. Gruber calls out Mosseri for this nonsense and then sows salt in his fields.
When all is said and done, Gruber says, these people feel entitled to track us as they always have and react with outrage when someone suggests that they aren’t. I just wish Apple hadn’t agreed to delay this important and necessary change past the release of iOS 14. Still, even if it’s a few months late it will be worth waiting for. If Apple’s new policy helps drive a steak through the heart of the adtech beast it’s fine with me.