Apple is seriously cashing in on its push for privacy

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Apple’s big push for privacy and limiting ad tracking earlier this year is paying off – literally. Since the policy went into effect, Apple has increased its market share for its advertising business to triple what it was previously.

That’s according to a new report in the Financial Times, which found Apple’s own advertising arm reaped the benefits of being able to supply advertisers with real-time data, something that the new policy stopped third-party advertisers from doing.

Yes, the policy change was framed as giving users back their privacy, which it has, but let us not forget that Apple made a savvy business decision here.

See, Apple’s own advertising arm sells sponsored slots in the App Store, which show up when users search for a similar app. Before the privacy change in iOS 14.5, Apple’s share of that business was only 17 percent. Now, it’s 58 percent of all app downloads on iOS which occur from tapping on an ad.

The results of that astronomic change? Researchers at Evercore ISI say Apple is likely to earn $5 billion from advertising this year, and potentially $20 billion per year before the end of 2024. That’s even with some mobile advertisers deciding to split their spending to focus on Android, where there is no similar ad tracking policy.

If you are interested in checking out if your iPhone is limiting third-party advertisers tracking you with our short guide.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.