Supporting our partners through iOS 14 and beyond

UPDATE: Starting on Monday, April 26, Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework will go into effect. Apps will now be required to ask permission from users who are on iOS 14.5 devices to access their device’s advertising identifier. As we are fully committed to building future advertising solutions that best supports our brands and partners' needs while staying committed to our privacy-first approach, TikTok will show Apple's tracking permission prompt.

From April 26 on, the only way to target iOS 14.5 users for app install ads will be through TikTok's iOS 14 Dedicated Campaigns. This feature is available for all advertisers, and campaigns can be created by choosing the app install objective or catalog sales objective with app prospecting, selecting the iOS app and setting the toggle for 'Deliver to iOS14+ conversion events' to ON at the ad group level. We recommend advertisers start creating these new iOS 14 dedicated campaigns and be ready to scale budgets to minimize any disruption reaching iOS 14 traffic for app campaigns.

Additionally, there are several changes to other ad products like targeting, split tests etc. Please refer to our Help Center for detailed guidance on impact to all of our ad products.

UPDATE: In light of Apple's upcoming AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework enforcement, TikTok will show Apple's tracking permission prompt to support the needs of our brands and partners while respecting our users' privacy choices. We take great care to safeguard the information of our community and provide them with the privacy, safety, and security controls to choose the TikTok experience that's right for them. Moreover, we are fully committed to building future advertising solutions that best supports brands and partner's needs.

To help advertisers prepare for Apple's ATT enforcement, we will start rolling out the iOS 14 dedicated campaign experience over the coming weeks. Advertisers can begin familiarizing themselves with all the changes for iOS app campaigns, while optimizing and reporting based on SKAdNetwork data. If you are interested in testing this experience ahead of ATT enforcement, please reach out to your sales rep for more information.

Our Help Center has been updated with product-level guidance and suggested strategies. Advertisers can find details on TikTok's new product UI experience here.

As brands large and small are finding new and unique ways to engage with the TikTok community, we want to ensure a positive and safe environment for everyone as we navigate these changes together.

At TikTok, we are fully committed to providing a safe and protected platform for our partners and users. Data privacy is a top priority for TikTok. Today, we're sharing how we're supporting and guiding our advertisers and partners through Apple's new AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework. Along with these recommendations, we continue to invest in resources and products that will minimize disruption while ensuring a positive and safe environment for the brand partners and users that choose TikTok as their home.

Preparing Mobile Measurement Partner settings for iOS 14

TikTok supports measurement and optimization based on SKAdNetwork API, Apple's attribution solution. We are working with all of our Mobile Measurement Partners (MMPs) who have either released or will release an updated version of their SDK which supports SKAdNetwork API. Additionally, we will support SKAdNetwork reporting for dedicated iOS 14 campaigns in both Business Manager and Events Manager. In the meantime, we encourage our advertisers and partners to update to the SKAN-supported version of the MMP SDK, complete the conversion event configuration in the MMP interface, and send all events to TikTok via the MMP.

Adjusting to changes in delivery to app campaigns

Limitations of SKAdNetwork API will impact ad performance. As we look to make several changes to app campaign delivery, this will greatly change how advertisers can reach iOS 14 traffic after the ATT framework goes into effect. Once the ATT policy goes into effect and advertisers prepare to launch new campaigns or monitor ongoing campaigns to reach iOS 14 traffic, setting aside time to closely monitor all campaigns and adjust budgets and bids as necessary is greatly suggested.

App advertisers should prepare to create dedicated iOS 14 campaigns when using the app install objective or catalog sales objective when used for app prospecting. Due to limitations of SKAdNetwork API, we will operate with the following limitations when creating dedicated iOS14 campaigns. There will be a limit of 11 active campaigns and 1 ad group per campaign for each of your iOS apps.​ While there is no limit on number of ad accounts that can be used for iOS 14 dedicated campaigns, we recommend streamlining account management for iOS to use fewer accounts, (ideally a single account but no more than 2-3 total accounts) for all app campaigns. Additionally, with the limited number of campaigns and one ad group per campaign, we recommend looking at strategies to consolidate these campaigns and ad groups (such as grouping countries, consolidating Lookalike and interest group audiences and more).

Learn more about these changes and our recommendations for app advertising at TikTok's Help Center.

Continued Transparency into TikTok's Privacy Practices

TikTok is committed to being transparent about how we operate, moderate and recommend content, and secure our platform and user's data. Our privacy and security page on our Safety Center shares more detail about our privacy practices and the controls we offer our community. For our brands and partners, we believe that being more transparent in how our platform operates benefits everyone. We are working hard to lead the industry in this space.

Next Steps

Our team continues to evaluate the development of first-party solutions and a data strategy that supports our advertisers' needs. We're taking a number of steps towards our commitment to a privacy-first approach for our community and work closely with the industry. We continue to safeguard our users' information and provide our community with a range of privacy, safety and security controls as they choose the TikTok experience that's right for them.

As we navigate these changes together with our advertisers and partners, we expect to provide further guidance in the next few weeks.