HiTechEdge

Tag: App Tracking Transparency

  • Snap Smashes Q2 Expectations, Stock Takes Off

    Snap Smashes Q2 Expectations, Stock Takes Off

    Snap, the company behind Snapchat, reported its Q2 results, smashing expectations for revenue and subscriber growth.

    Snap turned in one of its best quarters, growing more in Q2 that it has in four years. The company’s revenue came in at $982 million, 116% higher than the prior year.

    Even more impressive, the platform’s daily active users came in at 293 million, an increase of 23% year-over-year.

    “Our second quarter results reflect the broad-based strength of our business, as we grew both revenue and daily active users at the highest rates we have achieved in the past four years,” said Evan Spiegel, CEO. “We are pleased by the progress our team is making with the development of our augmented reality platform, and we are energized by the many opportunities to grow our community and business around the world.”

    One potential concern for the company had been Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), allowing users to choose whether companies can track them or not. Many companies that rely on advertising are seeing low opt-in rates, having a significant impact on their bottom line.

    Chief Business Officer Jeremi Gorman said Snap, in contrast, had “higher opt-in rates than we are seeing reported generally across the industry.”

  • Google’s Play Store Privacy Changes Won’t Match Apple

    Google’s Play Store Privacy Changes Won’t Match Apple

    Proposed privacy changes for Android developers will fall short of the protections Apple offers, according to new reports.

    Google made headlines when it informed developers it would be changing how privacy is handled. Developers will soon be required to disclose the security features their apps offer, whether an app adheres to Google’s Families policy, if the app’s safety section has been independently verified and if data collection is optional or required.

    Despite offering significant improvements over the current privacy protections, Google’s level of protection will still fall short of Apple’s recent moves, according to AppleInsider.

    In particular, Google wants advertisers to continue to be able to target ads, as well as quantify how effective those ads are. In contrast, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) is specifically aimed at preventing advertising’s from tracking users.

    According to AppleInsider, two Google employees say the company is working to improve privacy, but dragging its feet at the same time. The company clearly has more to lose than Apple, since it makes the bulk of its income from advertising. In contrast, Apple makes the bulk of its money from hardware and paid services, meaning it doesn’t treat people’s data as the product.