Focusing on resolving issues unique to the Japanese market – the outlook of Adjust’s new CEO[インタビュー] -Exchangewire Japan

The mobile advertising industry is shaken by restrictions on the use of personal information and a series of large acquisitions. Adjust, one of the world’s few mobile measurement partners (MMPs), welcomed a new CEO earlier this year as it looks to navigate a turbulent period. How will we navigate the turmoil that accompanies the deployment of SKAdNetwork? We interviewed the new CEO who came to Japan in July.
(Interviewer: Masatoshi Nagano, ExchangeWire Japan)

More than just a tech company

-Please introduce yourself.

My name is Simon Dussard, CEO of Adjust. In the early days of the company, I had another prominent colleague named Simon, so to avoid confusion, I continue to go by the nickname Bobby to this day. He has been in his current position since February 2022 after working as Solution and Integration Officer, Support VP, and Chief Customer Officer (CCO).

―How do you differentiate yourself as a so-called mobile measurement partner (MMP)?

We have absolute confidence in the reliability and accuracy of our data. In addition to attribution measurement, our company excels in ad fraud countermeasures, but this is also an effort to realize the purpose of developing an accurate and reliable data environment.

Without accurate data, advertisers cannot make the right decisions about their advertising investments. In addition, unlike the early days of mobile advertising, when it was sufficient to measure only the number of ad impressions and installs, today there are many data points to be linked, such as in-app ad views, subscription registrations, and product purchases. I have. With us, we can collect all kinds of data and put it together into actionable insights.

A strong customer support system is also one of our strengths. Our employees, who have received awards from AdExchanger, a major US industry media, carefully listen to customer feedback and use it to develop products. In such a rapidly changing market environment, precise information exchange with advertisers is necessary. We’re not just a tech company that rolls out new features blindly. We take pride in being a platform that constantly evolves while incorporating customer issues.

―Please tell us the purpose of your visit to Japan.

Although I have been away from home for the past few years due to the corona crisis, I usually visit Japan once or twice a year to meet with customers. In order to accurately grasp the issues that customers face, it is necessary to understand the subtle nuances while actually meeting them and having in-depth discussions with them. On top of that, I and the employees of the Japanese subsidiary are responsible for returning feedback to the head office in Berlin, Germany, and linking it to the development of new functions. We believe that without direct dialogue with Japanese customers, we cannot respond to the issues unique to the Japanese market.

Faster Development Cycles After Acquisition

– Acquired by mobile advertising platform AppLovin in 2021.

AppLovin has acquired solutions such as in-app bidding MAX, user acquisition AppDiscovery, and ad exchange MoPub earlier this year. In the meantime, we have also promoted platform integration through the acquisition of solutions such as the data aggregation platform “Acquired.io” and the rogue bot detection “Unbotify”.

Although they both aim to build an integrated platform, their business portfolios and customer bases are very different. Therefore, we thought that by integrating the management of the two companies, we could create a truly integrated platform.

―What specific changes did the business integration bring about?

After first becoming part of AppLovin, we remain legally independent and do not share acquired data with AppLovin.

The most significant change is that the abundant funds obtained from this acquisition have dramatically increased our development speed. This year, we have released new features one after another, such as Adjust Datascape, an analytics solution, in the first quarter, and Adjust CTV AdVision, a connected TV measurement solution, in the second quarter.

―Are there any plans to create an integrated platform that bundles the Adjust and AppLovin solutions?

There are no plans to do so at this time. As I said before, Adjust and AppLovin have different customer bases. At least in the current market environment, it doesn’t make much sense to bring both solutions together.

How should mobile marketers respond to environmental changes?

―It seems that the IDFA usage restrictions and the deployment of SKAdNetwork, which were implemented in earnest after iOS 14.5, are still causing confusion.

After the release of SKAdNetwork, the mobile advertising industry has faced major changes. The method of attribution measurement through SKAdNetwork is so unique that it makes no sense to compare it with traditional mechanisms that rely on IDFA.

However, advertising demand and advertising budgets continue to exist, just because the attribution measurement environment has changed. All you need to do is adapt to the new environment. As Apple continues to improve the functionality of SKAdNetwork, we plan to add corresponding functionality one after another.

―How exactly should we adapt?

There are two main points. First of all, we should make the most of the new framework called SKAdNetwork. In SKAdNetwork, it is also possible to understand user’s in-app behavior and map each revenue indicator by channel based on arbitrary conversion value. It may be less accurate than the IDFA, but it’s still good enough to make ad investment decisions and bidding strategy decisions.

We should also work on improving the IDFA opt-in rate. Initially, it was expected to remain at 5 to 10%, but when the lid was opened, it was recorded in the 20% range, and in genres such as hyper casual, the figure reached 40%. If we can gather this much data linked to IDFA, we should be able to use it to speculate on the behavior of opted-out users.

―Are there any issues specific to the Japanese market?

The IDFA opt-in rate is low compared to the global average. In the second quarter, the global average was 31%, while the Japanese market was 21%. It can be said that Japanese consumers are highly concerned about privacy protection. Advertisers in Japan need to explain to consumers what benefits they will get by opting in. Considering that nearly 70% of young people in Japan use iOS, this is a very big issue.

―Google has also indicated a policy of developing tracking and targeting methods that do not use advertising IDs on Android.

As you know, Google is developing its own new framework called the Privacy Sandbox. However, SKAdNetwork and Privacy Sandbox are completely different things. The design structures and available data vary widely. We will continue to study Adjust Datascape as an integrated platform that supports both this privacy sandbox and SKAdNetwork.

Probabilistic data limited to transitional period

―Do you think that the importance of probabilistic data will increase as restrictions on the use of personally identifiable data such as advertising IDs are strengthened?

Probabilistic data is only a temporary solution used by SKAdNetwork during its developmental stage. As SKAdNetwork evolves, the chances of leveraging probabilistic data will decrease. We do not intend to make a large investment in developing functions for the purpose of utilizing probabilistic data.

―Please tell us about future business development.

We will increase our focus on improving the measurement environment for connected TV advertising. According to a study by the Interactive Advertising Council (IAB), the global connected TV advertising market will grow 57% from 2020 to 2021 and 39% by 2022, nearly doubling in two years to reach $21.2 billion. 840 billion yen). The rapid growth is reminiscent of the dawn of mobile advertising. When I meet people in the advertising industry at business meetings or at industry events, I feel that the topic of connected TV is becoming more and more common.

Connected TV advertising has its own demands and challenges. For example, because it is a medium that can be viewed by a large number of people, multiple installs can occur with one impression. Also, like conventional TVs, there are many cases where it does not necessarily lead to immediate installation, but contributes as a brand lift. Furthermore, 90% of connected TV viewers operate their smartphones in some way while watching. All of these are phenomena that have not been seen in conventional mobile advertising, and we believe that they are measurable indicators once a proper measurement environment is established.

Adjust offers CTV AdVision, a function that can measure the effectiveness of connected TV advertising, and is already being used by many advertisers. In Japan, we partnered with Video Research Co., Ltd. in July of this year, making it possible to measure and analyze mobile app installs from terrestrial television commercials. This gives marketers a complete view of the user journey after a TV ad install leads to cross-device insights that can be used to optimize campaigns and drive growth.

Whether it’s privacy protection measures or connected TV advertising, the digital advertising industry is in the midst of major changes, but it can be said that the direction of change has already been set to some extent. In order for marketers to overcome this turbulent period, they need a partner with reliable knowledge who will accompany them no matter what changes occur. We believe that Adjust has the necessary knowledge, data and mindset for its partners, and we would like to continue to promote various initiatives to solve marketer issues.