Performance-based mobile app marketing optimization platform, Liftoff and its fellow Post-IDFA Alliance members, have released initial findings on the iOS 14.5 operating system update.

The results are the first in a series of analyses from the alliance — a coalition of ad tech firms that includes AdColony, Fyber, Chartboost, InMobi, Vungle and Singular — detailing the impact of iOS 14.5 on the advertising industry.

In the weeks following its release, adoption rates of the new OS itself were relatively low, ranging from 11.5 per cent to 14.92 per cent, depending on the method used to identify a 14.5 user. This is itself is not unusual. It often take some time for most mobile users to update their operating system. 

When it comes to opt-in rates for tracking, one Alliance member, AdColony, reports that 36.5 per cent of those that updated their phones opted in to sharing their iPhone device ID via the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt. 

However, the range of reported opt-in rates is broad, with another alliance member, Singular reporting that only 16.8 per cent of users permitted apps to track data fully. Additionally, 18.9 per cent of its users restricted the “Allow Apps to Request to Track” entirely, while a whopping 64.28 per cent denied sharing their device ID. Data from another app analytics firm which is tracking the issue, Flurry, puts the opt-in rate lower, at 15 per cent as recently as 15 May. 

The launch of the ATT framework has also caused a shift in ad spend from Apple to Android. Following the update, LiftOff reports seeing an 8.29 per cent in Android spend on its network, while for Vungle, the figure is 21 per cent.

The findings also show that impression costs on iOS 14.5 are down, with the cost per thousand impressions (CPMs) showing a decline ranging from 2.4 per cent (Liftoff) to 8.73 per cent (AdColony). 

Alliance partners insist that this temporary dip doesn't spell disaster for the industry, predicting that CPMs will steadily increase over time as more users adopt iOS 14.5 and marketers feel more confident with ad performance.