Season 7, Episode 32: The CAPI revolution

The Conversions API, or CAPI, represents a revolutionary development in the digital economy: it allows any platform with sufficient scale to extend its advertising scope beyond local context into the broader and more commercially valuable function of behavioral advertising, entirely outside of the purview of a browser or operating system. In this episode, I provide a history of the CAPI and its role in the Everything is an ad network phenomenon. I also explore the fundamental shift in the digital advertising landscape driven by the transition from browser-side pixels to the server-to-server CAPI, moving beyond the immediate impacts of Apple's App Tracking Transparency to a more permanent structural change in how commercial data is shared and utilized.Articles cited in this episode:Everything is an ad networkThe App Tracking Transparency recessionIs CAPI future-proof?The privacy shuffle (part one, two, three, four)Privacy manifests, fingerprinting, and Apple’s intentionsPodcast: Meta’s RenaissanceDoes Apple police fingerprinting?Google embraces IP-based fingerprintingApple’s privacy “nuclear option”Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming backInterested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:SpotifyYouTubeApple Podcasts