Apple’s introduction of ATT in 2021 changed the way many mobile marketers think about user acquisition, attribution, and more. Many brands have started exploring new supply types and shifted budget away from iOS — and the FeedMob team helped many clients make these changes successfuly. Dive into these trends and more with FeedMob’s strategic account director, Eric Willner. 

Q: The increasing focus on privacy is making first-party data more important than ever for user acquisition. Is this a trend you think will continue and how will it impact the mobile marketing ecosystem?

A: Yes, this trend will most certainly continue. Apple’s privacy changes accelerated the maturation of the mobile industry overnight. Whereas mobile advertising was once a high-growth industry with a low barrier to entry and few rules, we’re now entering a ‘shakeout phase’ where it’s become more challenging to enter the space and compete with well-established players. With Apple’s changes to attribution, companies with significant first-party user data will continue to be acquisition targets. 

Q: Recent FeedMob data suggests OEM and incent placements are on the rise. Are there other partnership categories that you are seeing success with? 

A: While we are seeing interest in OEM and incent placements, we continue to see interest in the affiliate network category. Despite significant changes to iOS attribution, mobile marketers continue to have lofty growth targets to achieve. As goals increase and MMP anti-fraud tools have improved, more marketers are turning to affiliate network inventory for added growth because these partners can provide install volume that performs closer to client KPIs. 

Q: What new supply types are you experimenting with and why have you chosen these channels?

A: Our focus has always been to test a variety of inventory types for our clients. In the absence of advanced targeting, we’re experimenting more with direct publisher inventory in verticals that are contextually relevant to our clients’ target demographic. We’ve also been testing with mobile web inventory and driving users to a mobile web sign-up page with FeedMob pixel tracking as a means to circumvent the need for iOS attribution. 

Q: Which channels do you think more clients will embrace in 2022 and beyond?
A: As Apple tightens the reins on probabilistic matching with private relay, mobile marketers will be forced to adopt iOS 14.5+/SKAN inventory and adjust their internal workflows as a means to acquire users on iOS. I expect DSPs to eventually adjust to the challenges their bidding algorithms have faced without IDFA targeting and become larger partners for us in 2022.