Two & a Half Gamers Session #24: State of the UA, Admon, and Retargeting

This discussion provides an expert analysis of the mobile gaming industry one year after the implementation of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, commonly referred to as the IDFA apocalypse. The primary objective is to evaluate how these privacy-centric changes fundamentally altered user acquisition (UA), ad monetization, and retargeting strategies for mobile game developers. The panel examines the resulting tectonic shifts in measurement and performance marketing, offering a retrospective on the industry's adaptation to a restricted data environment.

Key findings center on the operational challenges introduced by the loss of granular user-level data. The discussion highlights the necessity of pre-prompt testing to optimize opt-in rates and explores the evolving role of retargeting in a post-IDFA landscape, where traditional attribution methods have become increasingly difficult to execute. The panel also addresses the transition toward Apple’s SKAdNetwork (SKAN) 4.0, emphasizing that while measurement remains complex, developers must pivot toward new frameworks to maintain visibility into campaign performance and lifetime value (LTV) predictions.

The scope of the analysis is global, focusing on the mobile gaming sector's response to platform-level privacy mandates. The methodology relies on expert panel insights, drawing from the professional experiences of industry practitioners to provide actionable, real-world strategies for navigating the current privacy-first ecosystem. By contrasting legacy tracking methods with emerging privacy-compliant solutions, the discussion concludes that while the industry has faced significant disruption, success now depends on mastering creative testing, optimizing consent flows, and adapting to the limitations of aggregated data reporting.