Mobile Monday: Apple vs. T-Mobile Advertising, Consumers Want Personalization, and Q2 Mobile Gaming Spend

Digital Turbine is constantly keeping tabs on the mobile world, and every week, we’re sharing the most interesting and important need-to-know stories and articles. In this edition of Mobile Monday, we’re covering T-Mobile’s shift to more mobile enabled advertising, consumer desire for personalized experiences and trustworthiness from brands, and predictions for consumer spend on apps and mobile games in Q2 2022. Learn all about these stories in this week’s Mobile Monday!

The Uncarrier and UnPrivacy

T-Mobile made some waves this week changing its ad revenue group name from T-Mobile Marketing Solutions to T-Mobile Advertising Solutions. Along with it, it launched App Insights, “an app-based analytics platform that’s been in beta for the past year.” The insights product allows marketers to track, segment, and target T-Mobile wireless subscribers based on the apps they have installed on their phone and their engagement patterns, including when they open an app, the WiFi networks they join, and the domains they visit in a web browser.Now, in this advertising climate, any tracking and segmenting platform is going to raise some eyebrows. And sure enough, there are people that aren’t happy about it. But what T-Mobile is doing is more an example of data mining than a privacy issue — the user info is aggregated into cohorts, like sports fans or business travelers based on certain apps they have on their phone — since they aren’t using individual user data to target. And in fact, it’s not very different at all from what Apple, the self-touted consumer privacy champion, does with their ad platform. Their privacy statement explains how they use contextual information, like device information, app store searches, and the stories you read on Apple News and also will put you into segments based on your demographics, downloads, media consumed, and the ads you interact with. That sounds awfully similar. And Apple even takes it a step further by using Location data, which T-Mobile has shied away from.Overall, considering how much we do on our phones and how much over-clutter there is in a digital world, people should welcome smarter ways to discover the apps and content that would be preferred by them. And while we definitely don’t want our personal privacy compromised, the way T-Mobile and Apple are attacking the need to get insights to advertisers without putting people’s privacies at risk should be embraced rather than criticized.

Can Consumers Get Trust and Personalization from Brands?

Despite more privacy protection methods being put into place to keep consumers’ data and personal information safe, the majority of consumers still want personalized experiences from brands and are more likely to continue shopping from brands that deliver those customized interactions, according to recent research developed by Twilio.

Even though 49% of consumers are likely to become repeat customers of retail brands that deliver personalized shopping experiences, 40% of consumers still do not trust brands with their data. The need for balance between personalization and data protection is prevalent now more than ever as consumers are looking for personalized, omnichannel communication, yet less than half of users are fully comfortable with and trust brands to manage their information safely. Consumers want transparency and trustworthiness from the brands that they shop with, however, they are also looking for personalized experiences that speak to their needs and desires. Brands must work to navigate this space with the user-experience first in mind, understanding that how data is managed, communication style and customization, and personalized advertising will have a huge impact on ROI and the customer lifecycle.

Q2 2022 is Looking Good for Mobile Gaming

Momentum is on for the mobile gaming industry, with data.ai sharing predictions for Q2 2022. According to the data, consumers are expected to spend $33 billion on mobile apps this quarter — gaming hitting $21.4 of that.With 34 billion downloads to be reached soon, users who began to spend more during the pandemic are expected to continue.

Looking at operating system breakdown, Android has remained stable with around $11 billion QoQ, while iOS has seen consumer spending go up 4% from Q1 2022. Apple’s App Store earnings came to $22 billion, with gaming comprising around 65% of that. The Q2 growth is looking to be in line with predictions, putting the market at $94.8 billion worth by the end of the year, with some predicting it will reach almost $140 billion worth by 2026.