Mobile Apps and Targeted Advertising: Competitive Effects of Data Sharing

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Li, Ding; Tsai, Hsin-Tien
• 署名单位: Nanjing University; National University of Singapore
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1542-4766
• DOI: 10.1093/jeea/jvaf025
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: privacy regulation; online

摘要

This paper examines the impact of data sharing among mobile apps, leveraging iOS's policy that limits tracking users using identifiers. We find that this restriction decreases average new downloads by 3.96%. The effect is primarily driven by large apps that heavily rely on third-party data to acquire users (resulting in overlapping effects), and developers who lack first-party data (resulting in a lack of information advantage). However, new app introductions, particularly by first-time developers, decrease following the restriction, implying that large incumbent apps may gain increased dominance in the long run and offset their reduction in market concentration from user acquisition.