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Mobile ad networks use information available with an app’s ad request—sometimes including a resettable advertising identifier—to help select ads and measure results. That identifier is not a person’s name, and it may be unavailable because of a user’s privacy choice or a publisher’s settings. The exact signals and controls vary by platform and ad system.

How an ad request becomes an ad

  1. An app requests an ad. When an app has an ad placement to fill, it sends an ad request to an ad system. The request can include information the platform and publisher allow it to share.
  2. Available signals are checked. Depending on the device, user choices, and publisher settings, the request may include an operating-system advertising identifier. A request does not guarantee that an identifier is present: publisher data controls can prevent one from being included.
  3. The system selects an eligible ad. Buyers and ad systems can use available signals alongside campaign criteria to decide which ad to serve. An identifier can help match data to an impression, support remarketing, limit how often an ad is shown, or connect an ad exposure with a later conversion.
  4. Results may be measured separately. Attribution tools can report app installs or re-engagement under their own privacy rules. Attribution is not the same as permission to track a user across companies’ apps and services.

Mobile apps commonly use operating-system identifiers rather than browser cookies for app advertising. Google Ad Manager identifies Android AdID and Apple IDFA as examples of resettable identifiers used for mobile app inventory (Google Ad Manager: mobile app identifiers). An identifier can help associate activity with an ad impression; it does not establish that the network knows the user’s legal identity.

What an advertising identifier does—and does not—tell an ad network

An advertising identifier is a device-level signal intended for advertising-related uses, not a name or a complete identity record. When available, it can help an ad system recognize that the same identifier appeared again, which supports functions such as frequency capping, remarketing, and conversion measurement.

Google Authorized Buyers says bid requests may include IDFA or AAID, but publisher data controls can result in requests with no identifier (Google Authorized Buyers: device identifiers). Nor does the identifier represent all the information an ad system might use: the sources do not establish a universal set of targeting signals for every network or campaign. Avoid assuming every ad is individually targeted or that every request contains an identifier.

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Android: reset or opt out of ad personalization

Android’s Advertising ID, also called AAID or AdID in advertising contexts, is a user-resettable identifier for advertising uses such as personalization. Android’s developer guidance says users can reset it or opt out of ad personalization in system settings, and advises apps to retrieve the ID when needed rather than cache it because it can change (Android Developers: Advertising ID).

Resetting changes the identifier available for future use; opting out is a separate control concerning ad personalization. The documented control does not mean that ads stop appearing in apps.

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Apple devices: permission for IDFA and covered tracking

On iOS and iPadOS 14.5 or later, an app must request authorization through App Tracking Transparency (ATT) before accessing IDFA. Apple’s definition of tracking covers linking user or device data from an app with data from other companies’ apps, websites, or offline properties for targeted advertising or ad measurement, as well as certain sharing with data brokers. If a user does not authorize tracking, IDFA is all zeros and the app may not carry out that covered tracking (Apple Developer: User Privacy and Data Use).

Apple states: “No. You will need to receive the user’s permission through the App Tracking Transparency framework to track that user.” This addresses using an identifier other than IDFA to track someone after ATT permission has not been received. Denying IDFA access does not, by itself, stop every ad or rule out personalization based only on an app’s own permitted data.

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Other approaches: publisher-only personalization and privacy-limited attribution

Personalization within one publisher’s apps

Google’s publisher first-party ID supports personalization based on data collected from that publisher’s own apps. Google says it cannot be used to link activity from those apps to third-party apps, and users can opt out of personalization based on this ID through in-ad controls (Google Ad Manager: publisher first-party ID). This is distinct from using an identifier to connect activity across different companies’ apps.

Measuring installs and re-engagement

Apple’s AdAttributionKit lets registered advertising networks measure app installations and re-engagement through privacy-limited postbacks, without tracking individuals or devices across other companies’ apps (Apple Developer: AdAttributionKit). It is an attribution mechanism, not authorization for separate tracking a participating app may also attempt.

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How the controls differ

Area Android Apple devices
Advertising identifier Advertising ID (AAID/AdID), resettable. IDFA; access requires ATT authorization on iOS and iPadOS 14.5 or later.
User control described by the platform Reset the Advertising ID or opt out of ad personalization in system settings. Authorize or deny an app’s ATT request for IDFA access and covered tracking.
Privacy distinction Advertising ID is a resettable advertising signal; its availability can depend on user and publisher settings. Without authorization, IDFA is all zeros and the app may not perform the covered tracking defined by Apple.
Other documented mechanism Google publisher first-party ID can support personalization limited to a publisher’s own apps. AdAttributionKit supports privacy-limited install and re-engagement attribution.

These controls are not equivalent: Android documents identifier reset and a personalization opt-out, while Apple requires ATT authorization for IDFA access and the covered tracking Apple defines. A publisher’s first-party personalization and privacy-limited attribution are separate mechanisms, each with its own scope.

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