Preparing our Partners for iOS 14: Actions for App Advertisers and Developers

Updated on April 26, 2021: On Tuesday, April 27, 2021 Facebook will begin rolling out new ad measurement protocols --Apple’s SKAdNetwork API and Facebook’s Aggregated Event Measurement -- following the release of iOS 14.5. Advertisers and partners will then begin to experience the changes described in this blog post. For the latest update visit the Facebook for Business blog.

Updated on April 21, 2021: On Tuesday, April 20, 2021, Apple confirmed that the release of general availability of iOS 14.5 will begin next week, and that it will start requiring apps in the App Store to obtain permission to “track” users across apps and websites owned by third parties for advertising and measurement purposes through it’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt. Apple’s prompt requirement will also prohibit certain data collection and sharing by businesses unless people opt in. As part of these changes, we’re implementing new ad measurement protocols, including Apple’s SKAdNetwork API and Facebook’s Aggregated Event Measurement and the changes described in this blog post will begin rolling out with the expected general availability of iOS 14.5 next week. We will provide an update with a specific date once more details are available from Apple. For the latest update, visit the Facebook for Business blog.

Today, January 19, we are providing an update to our earlier guidance to prepare you for the changes created by Apple’s iOS 14 requirements. We’re launching new experiences in our advertising tools that will guide you through some of these changes, including actions you will soon be able to take. While Apple has still not made it clear to the industry when they will enforce their AppTransparencyTracking prompt, we are taking advance steps to help prepare you and reduce disruption to your advertising and integrations across Facebook apps. Below you will find the following updates:

• New experiences in Events Manager, including a dedicated resource center
• Updates to Ads Measurement
• New Limited Login Mode for Facebook Login

Please note if you use the Marketing API or Ads Insights API please review this blog in detail for changes that will impact your campaigns. If you use the Ads Insights API there will be an immediate change to measurement beginning today.

As a review, advertisers using our Facebook SDK, Audience Network SDK, or and/or a Mobile Measurement Partner SDK need to be aware of the following version requirements:

FACEBOOK SDK

• Advertisers who have already upgraded to Facebook SDK v8.1 or above will be able to configure their SKAdNetwork for App install ads via standard or customizable methods.
• Advertisers who have not already upgraded should upgrade to Facebook SDK v9.0 which was released today.

AUDIENCE NETWORK SDK

• All publishers will need to use Audience Network SDK v6.2.1 in order to monetize with iOS 14 users when Apple introduces their new requirements. Audience Network SDK v6.2.1 was released on January 11, 2021.

FOR ADVERTISERS WHO WORK WITH MOBILE MEASUREMENT PARTNERS (MMPs)

• If you work with an MMP and do not use the Facebook SDK, check with your MMP for more information regarding their completion of integrating with Facebook to support SKAdNetwork. If completed, the MMP will be able to provide you with a unique URL to paste into Events Manager to be able to run AEO and VO campaigns.
• If you work with an MMP and use the Facebook SDK:
  • When optimizing for Installs (MAI): App should have the latest version of the Facebook SDK (v8.1 or above) or equivalent version of MMP SDK. This requires MMPs to have completed integration with Facebook to support interoperability of SKAdNetwork. Please check with your respective MMP for more information on where they stand on completion of integration with Facebook to support MAI using SKAdNetwork.
  • For optimizing app events, value, or mobile app installs + events, you will need to select one method to set measurement goals/conversion bits:
    • If events are sent from Facebook SDK, use Events Manager to set configure conversion schema.
    • If events are sent from MMP, the MMP interface needs to be used to configure the conversion schema.

EVENTS MANAGER:

• Starting January 19, 2021, ahead of Apple’s prompt enforcement, advertisers will be able to configure the SKAdNetwork conversion schema in Events Manager to measure and optimize for App Events (AEO), Value (VO), or App Installs + App Events (MAI+events).

APP INSTALL ADS:

• Starting January 19, 2021, ahead of Apple’s prompt enforcement, we will begin rolling out the ability for advertisers to set up and test SKAdNetwork-based app install campaigns in Ads Manager and via API.
• Starting January 19, 2021, advertisers will see a toggle at the campaign level to indicate that they want to run an app install campaign targeting iOS 14 users.

ADS MEASUREMENT

• We will be replacing the account level attribution window with a new attribution setting accessible during campaign creation at the ad set level. For active and new ad sets, the setting will default to 7-day click and 1-day view, which may result in a decrease in the number of reported conversions. Due to limitations around view-through signal, the attribution setting for newly created campaigns after prompt enforcement will default to 7-day click instead of 7-day click and 1-day view. Today, you can prepare for attribution window changes by using the Comparing Windows feature in Ads Manager to see performance across all existing windows.

APP EVENTS API

• If you use App Events API and do not use Facebook SDK to support SKAdNetwork API, confirm that you have properly implemented SKAdNetwork through Events Manager to access the SKAdNetwork configuration experience.
• Once confirmed, you will be able to configure your conversion schema to run AEO and VO campaigns

RESOURCE CENTER

We are launching Resource Center, a dedicated tab in Ads Manager with a customized checklist of tasks to guide you through actions you can take to ensure your advertising is set up optimally and prepare for the upcoming impact of iOS 14 requirements. The Resource Center will provide a list of relevant updates summarizing how iOS 14 requirements may impact your specific ad account. Most tasks and updates will link to Help Center articles to further support you through these changes.

FACEBOOK LOGIN:

• Facebook Login will now have a Limited Login mode that implements safeguards that allow advertisers to choose whether Facebook can use the fact that a person used Facebook to log into an advertiser’s iOS app to target advertising or measure advertising effectiveness. To implement this new version of Facebook Login, advertisers must update to version 9.0+ of the Facebook iOS SDK or Facebook SDK for Unity.
• For more information on this new version of Facebook Login, including implementation documentation and FAQs, we encourage you to visit our Developers page.