YouTube will soon prompt iOS users to choose whether they want to enable tracking for personalized advertising within its app. This change comes as part of YouTube’s efforts to continue offering tailored ad experiences while adhering to stricter privacy standards imposed by Apple.
Starting soon, iOS users opening the YouTube app will encounter a one-time prompt asking, “Allow ‘YouTube’ to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites?” Users will have two options:
- Allow: This choice allows YouTube to link app activity with data from non-Google apps and websites, enabling more personalized ads and better ad measurement. This option will apply to all users of the YouTube app on that particular device.
- Ask App Not to Track: Opting for this will prevent YouTube from linking app activity with data from non-Google sources, resulting in less personalized ads and potentially more repetitive advertising content.
It’s important to note that this prompt will not appear for YouTube Premium subscribers or users with child accounts on YouTube.
According to a YouTube spokesperson, selecting to allow tracking will enhance the ad experience by displaying ads that are more relevant to users’ interests. This move is expected to benefit creators on the platform by enabling advertisers to better measure ad performance.
In response to these changes, YouTube reassures users that they can modify their preferences at any time through iOS Settings under Privacy & Security > Tracking. This setting only affects YouTube’s use of data from non-Google sources and does not impact how data is utilized across other Google apps and websites.
The decision to implement this opt-in prompt aligns YouTube with broader industry shifts towards increased transparency and user control over data privacy. For more details on how YouTube plans to implement these changes and what they mean for users, visit the full article on 9to5Google.