Think about it like this: you’re immersed in your favourite mobile game when you come across an ad from another game that looks super fun. You click, download the game, and begin to play. Meanwhile, the ad company is wondering: “Did the ad cause a person to install the app?” In the past, it was much easier for advertisers to see that sort of journey. With Apple’s privacy changes, things became a little more difficult.
That’s why SKAdNetwork (more commonly referred to as SKAN) exists. SKAN is Apple’s solution for how advertisers can measure installs while protecting the user’s privacy. Advertising partners often turn to a mobile measurement partner like Apptrove to help them interpret the various sources of data provided by SKAN. As great as SKAN sounds, though, there are many SKAdNetwork limitations that make it challenging for advertisers.
So, What is SKAN 4.0?
Before delving into the downsides, let us break down Apple’s most recent version: What is SKAN 4.0? Apple released SKAN 4.0 to fix prior versions. SKAN 4.0 adds increased flexibility, lengthens the time window, and introduces “coarse conversion values” that allow advertisers to gather partial signals about user activities.
But, here’s the dilemma: SKAN 4.0 fixed some of the issues encountered with SKAd Network, while at the same time creating new hurdles. Not to mention, many of the limitations of SKAdNetwork are still very much present. Much like when you finally upgrade your phone, you feel excitement for the improvements, but are still left with bug fixes.
The Most Striking SKAdNetwork Limitations
When we describe the limitations of SKAdNetwork, we are describing the attributes that make an otherwise rational advertiser sigh. The undermentioned are some of the biggest aspects of the SKAN world explained in simple terms:
Delay of Feedback, SKAN does not provide installs in real-time; instead, the information is delayed. This is done to ensure user privacy. For an advertiser relying on timely feedback, delay will feel like playing a live game with a time delay of up to 5 seconds.
Consolidated, poor data granularity – When using SKAN, advertisers do not receive granular user-level data for performance. SKAN provides aggregated reporting only. Therefore, it will be difficult to know which ads were effective at changing user behaviour.
- Delayed Reporting – SKAN does not report installs in real-time. Instead, it delays the information for user privacy purposes. This can feel, for advertisers who crave real-time data, much like trying to play a live game with a 5-second delay.
- Low Data Granularity – They do not offer individual-level user data, only aggregated reports, so it is not easy to understand which ads are performing best.
- Privacy Thresholds – Apple suppresses results when the install number is too low, again, about privacy. This means less insight, and for smaller advertisers, in some cases, no insight.
- Complex Conversion Values – Apple offers advertisers the ability to track user interactions with “conversion values.” However, sets with conversion values are the most complex aspect of SKAN. One wrong move with the conversion values, and it won’t be obvious what the results mean.
- Multi-touch attribution problems – SKAN struggles to weight ad touchpoints fairly when someone sees multiple ads before installing an app. This is one of the main SKAdNetwork limitation that make campaign optimisation more difficult.
Why Advertisers Care About SKAdNetwork Limitations
To a teenage person, that may sound like a boring technical discussion. But for a fun way to think about it: say you run a lemonade stand and you put up flyers around the neighbourhood all day. When the day ends, you would want to know which flyers have been effective enough to get people to buy your lemonade. Now imagine if someone destroyed half your flyers, blurred the rest of the information out, and then told you about it three days later. That’s pretty much how SKAdNetwork constraints feel to the advertisers.
These constraints make it tough for them to spend money wisely. If the advertisers don’t know which ads were effective, they could be wasting their money. Money that could be spent on making better apps, games, or features for you!
Wrapping It All Up
SKAN is Apple’s response to a critical question: how do you track ad performance without compromising user data? SKAdNetwork is great, but with SKAdNetwork limitations, it can be tough to navigate. From delayed reports to no reports, advertisers often feel they are assembling an incomplete puzzle.
Here is the quick rundown:
- SKAdNetwork is Apple’s privacy-based attribution method
- SKAN 4.0 is the newest version with features like coarse conversion values and measurement flexibility
- Tools such as the Skan App are helpful, but they do not fix all the SKAdNetwork limitations; they just begin to address them.
At the end of the day, advertisers are accepting this place, living with these limits, while still being clever with growth. And for the user, it means more privacy – your data is not being passed around as if it is candy.
Feature Image by vecstock from FreePik
