What’s Up With Apple: Advertisers Organize, Amazon Drops Price on Mini, Apple Pay

Photo of Paul Ausick
By Paul Ausick Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
What’s Up With Apple: Advertisers Organize, Amazon Drops Price on Mini, Apple Pay

© AleksandarNakic / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

While Facebook may be the poster child opposing Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) planned ad-tracking feature, marketing firm Liftoff is forming an alliance of marketing and advertising firms to add their voices related to the roll-out of Apple’s Ad Transparency Tracker in the coming iOS 14.5 operating system update. The alliance includes Liftoff, Chartboost, Fyber, InMobi, Singular and Vungle and has created a website, No IDFA? No Problem, to explain what Apple is doing and what ad platforms can do to meet this challenge to their businesses.

[in-text-ad]

Unlike the public relations defense mounted by Facebook, Liftoff vice president of marketing Dennis Mink said the alliance will focus on how to live with Apple’s new rules: “With expertise from supply-side, demand-side, and measurement, we aim to ensure a smooth and successful transition into this new era, with the assurance that marketing can and will continue to be just as effective on iOS in this more privacy-centric manner.”

Liftoff noted that it has been preparing for the change by buying “large amounts” of limited ad tracking to train its machine-learning software to find high-quality consumers without relying on the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) program that Apple’s software has been designed to override. Limited ad tracking (LAT to the cognoscenti) metrics are not as all-encompassing as IDFA tracking and, therefore, presumably less expensive.

[nativounit]

Implied in the alliance’s approach is a rejection of Facebook’s confrontational PR approach. None of these ad firms want to get in a scrum with the world’s most valuable company. Facebook can afford to do so and, in fact, must do what it can to protect its top line. If LAT does not yield the same revenue as full tracking, then Facebook makes less revenue and less profit.

Amazon is currently selling Apple’s Mac Mini for an all-time low price of $599.99, compared to a list price of $699. Amazon had been selling the Mini for $669. The new low price includes the Mini with 8 GB of memory and 256 GB of solid-state (flash) storage and Apple’s own M1 CPU. The Mini does not include a display, keyboard or mouse.

What makes this such a good buy, according to Engadget, is that the new M1-equipped Mini “has the chops to outperform Intel and AMD’s tech.”

Coming soon to an iPhone or Apple Watch near you (if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area) is the transit authority’s Clipper card. Apple is preparing to integrate a mass transit Clipper card with your Apple device and use Apple Pay on your iPhone or Watch to pay for your ride by just tapping the device. No Face ID, Touch ID, vending machine or card reader.

Apple Pay will work with all 24 agencies that currently accept the Clipper card. These include BART, Caltrain and the Golden Gate Ferry. If you live in the Bay Area and want to be notified when the service will be available, Apple has a website where you can sign up to be notified.

[recirclink id=839910][wallst_email_signup]

Photo of Paul Ausick
About the Author Paul Ausick →

Paul Ausick has been writing for a673b.bigscoots-temp.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

Our $500K AI Portfolio

See us invest in our favorite AI stock ideas for free

Our Investment Portfolio

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618