Since the release of iOS 16.1 in October, Apple announced that if all parties involved supported SKAd Network 4.0, they would start receiving 4.0 postbacks with more features that can help SKAN optimization.
In spite of the industry’s excitement to start using this new version, each time a new version of SKAd Network has been released, the adoption curve has been slow. In our recent webinar, we discussed when do we expect to start testing at scale with this new version, and we all agreed that it was going to be sometime in Q2.
Q2 has just started and as we predicted, things are warming up!
Version 4.0 volume is around 20% of all iOS traffic and increasing every day. Consequently, Smadex has been able to test their SKAN 4.0 current strategies at a higher scale, receiving both fine and coarse grained conversion values and getting key learnings about the new privacy thresholds tiers for them. The new coarse grained conversion value and the extra digits of source ID are received with a few installs per day, this means advertisers will surely benefit from this new version with added granular data from the very beginning. This is a massive step towards helping advertisers optimize their SKAN campaigns with the information received in SKAN 4.0 postbacks.
Are you lost? Let’s recap a little bit
Apple shook the whole industry with the introduction of ATT and SKAd Network with the release of iOS 14.5 in mid 2021. This new privacy-centric attribution system came with a lot of limitations compared to MMP attribution. SKAN presented a lot of challenges that prevented detailed measurement with real time data and user level signals. Through the last two years, Apple has presented new versions of SKAN that have added new features, but this newer 4.0 version comes with the most changes.
SKAd Network 4.0 features bring three main improvements. More reporting granularity, LTV measurement and support for web to app. If you are curious to understand these new features in more detail, you can check the following post.
Why start testing now with SKAN?
SKAd Network is complex, and this new version has some added complexity. It is true that the industry has remained focused on Probabilistic Matching while it’s still working, but with the recent rumors of it ending sometime soon, it is a safer bet to start paying more attention to SKAN.
Mastering SKAN is not an easy task, there are numerous challenges that prevent easy optimizations. Despite its limitations, Smadex has been running SKAN campaigns at scale for global brands. We have built experience, learnings and developed a purpose build Product (Flexible Mapping) ideally suited to transition from SKAN 3.0 to SKAN 4.0.
Smadex is already transitioning to the SKAN 4.0 version with current available traffic with some partners. Learning all the new thresholds as well as building the different strategies to optimize to the second and third postback window. If you want to learn more about what Smadex is capable of with SKAN, make sure you contact us.
