Tracking by online advertisers has been a hot-button issue of late because of privacy concerns surrounding the practice. Much has been made of Do Not Track features making their way into desktop Web browsers, but the issue may be of even more concern when it comes to ads within mobile apps. Congress even recently subpoenaed Apple to explain its iPhone privacy practices after the Path app debacle.
Today, Opera Software announced a solution, called App-Tribute, that allows advertisers to gather useful analytics, while still protecting consumers' privacy.
App-Tribute can work with Android and iOS devices, and consists of an Advertiser SDK and a Publisher SDK. The first lets developers add a small piece of code to their apps to track downloads and installations of their applications—without revealing users' personally identifiable information, such as unique device identifiers, cookies, or MAC addresses.
The Publisher piece is available either as a standalone SDK or bundled with AdMarvel, a cloud-based ad platform, "with support for ad mediation from over 100 mobile ad networks around the world, industry-leading campaign management, and ad serving," according to Opera. AdMarvel reaches 150 million smartphone customers across over 8,000 mobile sites and apps.
"Since the launch of iOS in 2007 and Android in 2009, we've watched both sides of the industry—both developers who want to advertise their apps and those that want to monetize their app traffic—struggle with the thorny issue of promoting and tracking app downloads. We've seen schemes that attempted to solve the problem through device and user tracking, many of which raise troubling questions around accuracy and consumer privacy," said Mahi de Silva, executive vice president of Consumer Mobile at Opera Software. "Working together with several of our industry-leading publisher customers, we've designed and implemented a trusted third-party solution that satisfies all the constituents. We are very pleased to bring this innovation to market and take app promotion and monetization to the next level."
In addition to making the Opera Web browser, Opera Software is a leading mobile browser vendor, with over 250 million users of its desktop, mobile, and TV-based browsers.
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