German advertisers urge watchdog to block Apple’s app tracking tool

German advertisers and media publishers are pushing back against Apple’s commitments to amend its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, as the national competition authority evaluates proposed changes to ensure compliance.

In February last year, the German competition office preliminarily found that Apple’s ATT framework is illegal under German and EU law, saying it favoured the US tech giant over competitors active in the mobile advertising ecosystem.

Apple’s feature on iOS requires third party app makers to request permission to track users for targeted advertising. Apple does not display the same pop-up prompt for its own ad services, though iOS users can disable personalised Apple ads in settings.

The coalition of publishers and advertisers, which includes German press publishers and brands, argued on Tuesday that Apple’s revisions to ATT don’t address the competition concerns. Their press release also asks Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) to ban…