Been reading about all these Apple policy changes around app monetization but honestly can’t tell if it’s just noise or actually affecting revenue.
Anyone seeing real changes in their numbers since the updates rolled out?
We saw CPMs jump about 30% in the first quarter after the changes but retention metrics actually improved.
Weird side effect - with less data to chase vanity installs, we started focusing harder on quality users.
The real pain was explaining to clients why their dashboards looked broken.
Spent months rebuilding measurement frameworks around cohort analysis instead of relying on platform attribution.
Revenue took a hit initially but evened out once we adjusted bidding strategies.
Apps with strong organic loops handled it better than those dependent on paid acquisition funnels.
Ad costs spiked quickly after the updates hit.
Attribution tracking got messier but our organic numbers stayed pretty steady through it all.
Revenue dropped about 15% in the first month after iOS 14.5 hit, mostly from lookalike audiences going to hell. The targeting got worse but the bigger issue was attribution. You lose visibility into what’s working so you end up cutting profitable campaigns by mistake. Most apps I work with recovered within 6 months by switching to broader targeting and focusing more on creative testing. The ones that didn’t adapt are still struggling. It’s real impact, not just noise.