Unity Software lost $5 billion trying to circumvent Apple’s privacy policy

Unity Software has provided advertisers with a workaround to prevent losses from Apple’s iOS 14 App Tracking Transparency. However, this solution did not work, and the company’s shares fell 37% in value.

Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) allows users to avoid being tracked by advertisers while using apps. For example, this change means that only Facebook will lose 12.8 billion dollars in 2022.

Incorrect data reduced ad spend

ATT replaced Apple’s IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers), which previously allowed companies to identify users enough to target advertising. Instead of IDFA, Apple offered an alternative method that helps advertisers get the information they want, but does not affect user privacy.

However, instead of using their iPhones to track where users go, Unity Software began monitoring websites to see when users visited, and the company believed it could partially circumvent ATT.

According to Marketwatch, this Unity advertising product, called Pinpointer, which doesn’t rely on data from Apple, didn’t work. As a result, the erroneous data caused buyers to reduce their ad spend. Shares subsequently fell 37% to $30.30, the worst since the company’s IPO in September 2020, when the share price was $52. As a result, the company lost $5 billion in market value.

Unity Software is trying to fix the bug

However, MarketWatch notes that although Unity Software’s Pinpointer is the main cause of the share price drop, the system It says it’s being fixed now.

Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Cost said: “While key issues are resolved, it will take time to retrain machine learning algorithms and recover ad spend that fell earlier this year.” said. Unity Software CEO John Riccitiello told CNBC that it will take time to fix the issues.

It was previously reported that companies like Snap and Facebook are also trying to use a loophole to bypass App Tracking Transparency in December 2021. More recently, Facebook has had to freeze hiring, in part due to the loss of revenue caused by the ATT.