SKAdNetwork warning from AdMob and when is the App Tracking Transparency alert needed for iOS apps

Question

I have just started getting a warning message in AdMob for my iOS game with ads:

"Some apps haven’t been configured to use SKAdNetwork"

And that I may not be getting some advert credits. It looks easy to fix according to this:

https://developers.google.com/admob/ios/ios14

I just add a key to Info.plist

But on that link it also mentions App Tracking Transparency authorization and I’m unsure what to do about that. I know what ATT is - it presents an alert asking for permission track and affects access to the IDFA. But it’s a bit strange that Google says “If you decide to include ATT”. It’s like Google doesn’t really want you to do it.

Also, as far as I can see, the IDFA is still accessible without adding the ATT alert even in iOS 14.4. So some questions:

1. Does anyone know when (or if) Apple will enforce requiring the ATT alert? They used to say early 2021 - is there a firmer date or specific version number? It does not seem to be enforced yet (my game update without it was approved this week), and the IDFA seems perfectly accessible on iOS 14.4 without the alert. I can print it out with:

   Console.WriteLine("AdvertisingIdentifier={0}", AdSupport.ASIdentifierManager.SharedManager.AdvertisingIdentifier);
   

   And it’s not all zeros.

2. Am I really losing ad revenue without the SKAdNetwork key when the IDFA is still accessible anyway?

3. Is SKAdNetwork the future and is IDFA being sort of phased out? So in the future, AdMob will not use IDFA at all?

4. Should I go ahead and implement the ATT alert or wait (I’m worried most people will deny tracking, or it may put them off installing the game at all). Am I losing anything by not having the alert (I don’t think so, yet).

Answer 1

1. they will never enforce it, because if you do not show it that means that your app does not track users directly.

Note: I recommend not using ATT because most users ask you not track them anyway.

2. Yes, if a user gave you a permission to track them then they will get more personalized ads which usually translate into more revenue but as I stated in the note above, most of users will not let you track them.

3. Yes it seems that way, SKAdNetwork is needed to measure the success of ad campaigns while maintaining user privacy.

4. No, I think this is not needed