How does iOS App Tracking Transparency affect Google Ads?

ATT requires apps to ask permission before tracking users across other apps and websites. Since most iPhone users opt out, Google Ads loses the ability to track these users via cookies, resulting in underreported conversions from iOS devices.

What is ITP and how does it affect Shopify tracking?

Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) is Safari's built-in privacy feature that limits third-party cookies and restricts first-party cookies to 7 days. Since all iOS browsers use Safari's engine, this affects every iPhone and iPad user visiting your Shopify store.

iOS Privacy Changes and Google Ads Tracking on Shopify

What Changed: ATT and ITP Explained

Apple introduced two major privacy features that directly impact Google Ads tracking for Shopify stores:

The Real Impact on Your Shopify Store

These privacy changes create a compounding problem for Shopify merchants running Google Ads:

What You Lose

• Conversions from Safari users (7+ day journeys)
• Cross-device attribution
• Accurate iOS conversion counts
• Remarketing audience accuracy

The Downstream Effects

• Underreported ROAS
• Smart Bidding with incomplete data
• Wrong budget allocation decisions
• Killing profitable campaigns

Consider Your Customer Base

In the US, iPhone has roughly 55% market share. In younger demographics and higher-income brackets, it's even higher. If your Shopify store targets these segments, iOS privacy changes could be hiding more than half your conversion data.

Recover iOS conversions automatically

ScaleUp uses Enhanced Conversions to recover 15-20% of conversions lost to iOS privacy restrictions.

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Trusted by 2,000+ Shopify merchants

The First-Party Data Solution

The key to surviving iOS privacy changes is shifting from cookie-based tracking to first-party data. When a customer enters their email at checkout, that's first-party data your store collected directly. Unlike cookies, it doesn't expire after 7 days and can't be blocked by browsers.

Enhanced Conversions: The Primary Fix

Google's Enhanced Conversions feature uses hashed customer data (email, phone, address) to match conversions back to ad clicks even when cookies have been blocked or expired. This is the single most impactful change you can make to combat iOS data loss.

Learn about Enhanced Conversions

Future-Proofing Your Tracking Setup

Privacy restrictions will only increase. Chrome is exploring Privacy Sandbox APIs to replace third-party cookies. Here's how to protect your Shopify store's tracking long-term:

Enable Enhanced Conversions — The single most impactful change. Recovers 15-20% of lost data.
Implement Consent Mode v2 — Required for EU/UK markets. Enables conversion modeling even without cookies.
Use server-side tracking — Sends data from your server instead of the browser, bypassing client-side restrictions.
Monitor regularly — Compare Shopify sales to Google Ads weekly to catch new tracking gaps early.

iOS-Proof Your Google Ads Tracking

ScaleUp automatically handles Enhanced Conversions, Consent Mode, and first-party data tracking. Works on every browser, every device.

Install Free on Shopify

No credit card required

Written by Jamie Scott

Founder & CEO, ScaleUp

Google Ads CertifiedShopify Expert

Jamie specializes in e-commerce conversion tracking, helping Shopify merchants improve their Google Ads performance through accurate data.

Helped 2,000+ Shopify merchants improve ROAS

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Related Resources

Consent Mode v2 Setup Guide

Complete setup guide for Shopify

Enhanced Conversions Setup

Step-by-step setup instructions