Apple’s recent App Tracking Transparency feature is a sign it may look to tap into the global internet advertising market dominated by Google and Facebook, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets says.
Since an April software update, most iPhones have allowed users to decide which apps can track user activity – crucial information that helps companies like Facebook deliver tailored ads to users and measure their impact.
“We view (the privacy changes) as a sign that Apple may want to compete in global advertising,” RBC analyst Brad Erickson said in a client note late Thursday, while starting coverage of Facebook, Amazon and Alphabet with “outperform” ratings… “(Apple) can use data privacy as cover while it invests in a search algorithm behind the scenes,” Erickson said, referring to potential advertising revenue from a Google-like search engine.
Evercore ISI analysts also pointed to Apple’s possible advertising ambitions in August, saying “hampering third-party advertising” would give it a successful start in advertising.
MacDailyNews Take: Anything that improves competition in the internet advertising market is welcome since the market is broken due to the dominance of too few players (i.e. Google with 92.03% of worldwide search engine market share and Facebook).
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