• Apple is set to roll out a privacy-focused update next year that will require developers to seek permission from users before tracking them, and some industry insiders are preparing for a March date.
• Advertisers and adtech companies are scrambling to prepare for the change by testing contextual ad targeting, among other things.
• But analysts predict the change could wipe out $40 billion in mobile app advertising spend. 

Apple threw a wrench into the mobile-app ad industry in June when it announced a major privacy update that will require app developers to get permission from iPhone users to track them, and the rumor swirling is that Apple — after postponing the launch date in September — is preparing for a March rollout, multiple sources told Business Insider.

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Ultimately, the entire online ad ecosystem is veering away from longstanding methods of tracking. Google has said it would remove support for third-party tracking cookies in its Chrome browser by 2022. Many in the mobile ad industry predict Google’s version of the IDFA, Android’s Advertising Identifier, is destined for the scrap heap, too. Plus, companies need to prepare for a patchwork of global privacy regulations.

“People who latch onto the past are going to struggle,” said Aaron McKee, chief technology officer at location data technology company Blis.

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