WPP's CEO Says Apple's Safari Tracking Crackdown Has Minimal Impact on Its Data Business
TLDR
WPP CEO Cindy Rose said Apple's crackdown on cross-site and cross-device tracking has minimal exposure for WPP because its data business does not rely solely on identity matching.
WPP CEO Cindy Rose said on the company's third-quarter earnings call that Apple's crackdown on tracking across sites and devices has barely affected the holding company, since its data business is no longer built around the practice Apple is shutting down. Responding to a question from Richard Kramer, founder of Arete Research, Rose said, "What I will say is it doesn't really impact our data solution at all because we don't rely solely on identity matching." The remarks were first reported by Digiday.
How we got here
On October 8, Apple's latest Safari update was described as blocking ad-tech companies from tracking users, and on October 9 Apple announced a block list targeting data brokers and ad tech vendors engaged in cross-site tracking. On October 12, the update was described as blocking third-party ad trackers, and on October 20 Apple confirmed it was blocking email-based identity services like LiveRamp and ID5 in Safari. Later, on October 21, PPC Land linked Safari's identity-firm blocking to the expansion of Apple's own ad network. Now, on October 30, WPP CEO Cindy Rose said Apple's crackdown on cross-site and cross-device tracking has minimal exposure for WPP because its data business does not rely solely on identity matching.
Summary of earlier coverage
- Oct 28Apple's Safari Restrictions on Identity Providers Push Ad Tech Toward Server-Side Integrations
Apple's Safari restrictions on identity providers are pushing publishers and ad tech firms like ID5 toward server-side integrations and IAB Tech Lab's Trusted Server Framework, though doubts remain about their durability.
- Oct 27Apple Blocks Safari Network Access to Identity Resolution Companies, Disrupting Ad Targeting
Apple's Safari now cuts off network access to identity resolution companies, and ID5, LiveRamp, Permutive, Audigent and UID 2.0 have been blocked while The Trade Desk got a reprieve.
- Oct 19Safari 27 blocks identity firms from turning email addresses into tracking IDs
Safari 27 is blocking identity providers from converting email addresses into tracking identifiers across Apple platforms, with no vendor exceptions.
- Oct 12Apple's latest Safari update cuts off ad-tracking companies, raising concerns of industry-wide losses
Apple's Safari update blocks third-party ad trackers, echoing previous crackdowns that cost the industry billions.