(Reuters) – Google’s iPhone apps, such as Maps and YouTube, will no longer use a tool from Apple Inc. that allows them to personalize ads, avoiding a new Apple warning that informs users that they are tracking their browsing.
The announcement in a blog post on Wednesday of the Alphabet Inc. unit comes shortly before Apple starts applying new rules for tracking transparency.
Apple has for years provided applications with a unique identifier, known as IDFA, to help them connect the same user to multiple programs. The code can be essential to determine who to display an ad to and to see if it led them to buy.
But Apple said earlier this year, apps will need to show users a unique pop-up message to get their consent to access IDFA.
Facebook Inc. and other app makers are concerned that the warning may discourage users from opting in and paralyzing ad sales.
Because users of Google apps are typically logged in, it has an alternative to tracking IDFA, and as such, its core advertising activity is unlikely to be affected by Apple’s changes.
But he warned in his blog post that publishers and advertisers who rely on his mobile advertising software will have poorer results without IDFA access.
Google said it is developing alternatives for customers, but they may not be ready right away.
Google added that customers can use their software regardless of whether they display the pop-up window and obtain the necessary consent and do not make recommendations on what they should do.
Apple said applications that do not use IDFA are still required to ask the user’s permission if they display and measure ads based on data purchased from other companies.
To comply, Google has said that its iPhone applications will no longer use data from so-called third parties to personalize ads.
Facebook said last month that it intends to display the pop-up window to request user consent.
“Apple has made it clear that if we don’t use Apple’s prompt, they will block Facebook from the App Store, which would continue to affect people and companies that rely on our services every month,” he said.
Reporting by Paresh Dave in Oakland, California; Edited by Sonya Hepinstall and David Gregorio