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Apple's Internal Data Shows Many iOS 15 Users Turn Off Personalized Ads With Minimal Impact on App Store Search Ads

Starting with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, Apple introduced a new "Personalized Ads" toggle during the setup process that makes it easier for users to turn off personalized ads in Apple apps such as the App Store, Apple News, and Stocks.

apple search ads app store
In a presentation shared with advertisers, obtained by MacRumors, Apple cited internal data showing that, in the first quarter of 2022, 78% of iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 search volume on the App Store was from devices with Personalized Ads turned off across all countries and regions where Apple's Search Ads business is available.

Apple's presentation emphasizes that advertisers can reach interested users without applying audience targeting to their search results campaign. In the first quarter of 2022, Apple's internal data shows that Search Ads had a 62.1% average conversion rate for iOS 15 users with Personalized Ads turned on versus 62.5% for iOS 15 users with Personalized Ads turned off across all countries and regions where Search Ads are available.

Apple said search terms are a direct signal of intent, with the presentation stating that 70% of App Store visitors use search to find their next app.

Apple's personalized ads rely solely on first-party data. In the App Store and Apple News, for example, Apple says a user's search and download history may be used to serve them relevant search ads. In Apple News and Stocks, ads are served based partly on what a user reads or follows, including publishers they have enabled notifications for.

It's worth noting that this data is unrelated to the App Tracking Transparency privacy feature, which only applies to apps using third-party data to track users.

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Top Rated Comments

LeadingHeat Avatar
57 months ago
Huh. Almost like search terms should be the only way ads are served. Almost like the old tv commercial days where the “ads” would be targeted towards what shows were playing and on what channels.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
57 months ago
I love how my ad blocker blocked this article 😅

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Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
57 months ago
I would prefer that there be NO ads in the app store, TYVM.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zarmanto Avatar
57 months ago

I used to get so tired of personal care product ads.
Do I want them back? :oops:
I dunno... at least they're easy to ignore. The ads which most annoy me are the ones for a product which I just bought. I mean, seriously... Amazon knows exactly what I just ordered from them; why would they think that ads for five more products exactly like it -- including the one I actually bought -- would somehow entice me to order another one? Do they seriously have that little faith in the longevity of the products that they sell?

(I mean... okay: that last note is actually plausible. But still!)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
57 months ago
I have kept the setting to off. Don’t want ads.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zarmanto Avatar
57 months ago

I mean, personalized Ads have been found far more efficient than random Ads everywhere else.
Honestly, even if you had cited sources, I would still be skeptical. The problem is, due to the inherent bias of... well, pretty much everybody... people who do these studies usually tend to find exactly the results that they were looking for. Thus, any studies on personalized ads which were conducted by (or commissioned by) companies which heavily rely upon them as a revenue source would naturally find them to be the bee's knees. (As an obvious sidenote, the same logic can be applied to Apple's results, because they were looking to find the opposite results.)

But, you know... maybe I'm just biased against studies. ;)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)