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In this issue: fear is the mind-killer... and the ultimate marketing tool. Don't fall for it around iOS 26. 🍔

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The drama

Here we go again: iOS 26 is allegedly killing UTM tracking in favor of increased privacy protections. 

Everywhere you look, headlines warn about “new privacy protections” that will nuke your tracking. The legacy of iOS 14.5 looms. People are freaking out. 

iOS 26 is expected to drop mid-September, right during the lead up to Black Friday Cyber Monday. But Apple’s own release notes on iOS 26 are sparse. 

Is this another watershed update that will upend all our digital strategies? 

Or is all this just FUD spread around by ecommerce SaaS tools seeking to capitalize on fear? 

Customers are asking us if Northbeam’s parameters are on the chopping block. So we went into the lab and tested it ourselves. The results are boring – in the best way.

Apple’s crusade: privacy, or hegemony?

Marketers have been living with Apple’s privacy standards for two decades.

• In 2017, Safari rolled out Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP). That was the first sign that Apple intended to wall off user data.
  
  
• iOS 14 (2021) and App Tracking Transparency (ATT) were the next big blows, slashing Meta efficiency overnight.
  
  
• iOS 16 and subsequent updates layered on more ITP rules, fingerprinting protections, and anti-cookie mechanics.

Every single update set off alarms in the DTC ecosystem. In the past, growth marketers were able to thrive by hacking Meta’s extreme tracking functionality, to squeeze maximum results out of complex targeting setups. 

Every update removed depth of tracking, upsetting targeting and attribution strategies that growth marketers relied on. And now, with iOS 26, the cycle repeats. 

The difference? This time there’s no actual change in UTM behavior.

Marketers on X were quick to clutch pearls, but we decided to test: how would iOS 26 affect Northbeam data?

Our independent testing

Instead of speculating, we ran controlled experiments across multiple devices in our Apple device lab.

Here’s how:

1. We constructed test URLs with both creative identifiers (nbt, utm_source) and click IDs (fbclid, gclid).
   
   
2. Loaded the URLs in Safari via different paths: clicking in Messages, Mail, Facebook in-app browser, direct typing, private browsing, and with “Advanced Tracking Protection” enabled.
   
   
3. Observed which parameters remained in the Safari URL bar and which disappeared.

We ran this on:

• An iPhone on iOS 18
• An iPhone on iOS 26 beta
• Two Macs on current macOS builds

What we found

Finding 1: Nothing new in iOS 26
UTM removal behavior is identical between iOS 18 and iOS 26. Anyone saying this is a “new privacy rule” is misinformed.

Finding 2: Creative UTMs are safe
Parameters tied to ad creative—nbt, utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term, utm_content—were never stripped. These survive even under private browsing or advanced protections.

Finding 3: Click IDs can get stripped
Identifiers like fbclid, gclid, msclkid, and other click/session IDs do get removed in some contexts. Specifically:

• When links are clicked in Messages or Mail
• In private browsing mode
• With Advanced Tracking Protection turned on - which is not turned on by default, by the way.

But note: none of this applies to the original ad click itself. If someone taps your Meta ad in the Facebook app, the click ID is preserved. It’s only when people copy/paste or share the URL later that stripping may occur.

What this means for you

First, don’t buy into the panic.

• Northbeam’s parameters remain unaffected. Our nbt tag and standard UTMs are untouched, across all devices and configurations.
  
  
• Any tracking degradation you’ve heard about is not new. This has been happening since iOS 18.
  
  
• If you see performance dips in Northbeam, it’s not because tracking broke. It’s because your underlying ad platforms are delivering weaker results.

Platforms that rely heavily on click IDs (Meta’s fbclid, Google’s gclid) are the ones at risk of degraded reporting in edge cases. Even then, the impact is limited to private browsing, Messages links, and advanced settings that only a fraction of users enable.

So if you’ve been worried about iOS 26 wiping out your attribution stack: breathe. It’s a nothingburger.

Why good attribution still matters

Even if this round of panic is overblown, the bigger picture hasn’t changed. Apple is steadily tightening the walls around user-level data.

Platforms are incentivized to over-report their own performance. Ad auctions are only getting more competitive.

That’s why clean, independent, multi-touch attribution isn’t optional. It's survival.

This is literally why we built Northbeam. 

With Northbeam multi-touch attribution, you’re not relying on single-point metrics like ROAS or click IDs that can disappear when Apple flips a switch. You’re measuring across every touchpoint: clicks, views, and conversions on Meta, Google, TikTok, YouTube, Shopify, and more.

Instead of guessing which channel drove a sale, or waiting six weeks for an incrementality test, you get a real-time, deduplicated, revenue-backed picture of what’s working. 

That clarity is what allows you to scale spend confidently, cut wasted budget, and prove profitability to finance.

This is the reason top ecommerce brands use Northbeam as their source of truth. It’s not just about surviving Apple’s latest update. It’s about future-proofing your entire growth engine.

Bottom line

• UTMs like nbt and utm_source are safe.
• Click IDs like gclid get stripped in niche cases, but this isn’t new.
• Any performance drop you see is more likely platform weakness than broken tracking.
• Northbeam MTA ensures you always have a reliable view of performance, regardless of Apple’s next move.

In other words: ignore the noise. Focus on building a growth strategy backed by attribution you can trust.

If you’re ready to cut through panic headlines and operate with clarity, book a demo of Northbeam MTA.

📖 Here's a blog version of this post, for easier sharing. Just in case anybody you know is nervous about iOS 26. 

🤔 Is it illegal to NOT buy ads on X? Bizarro world legal fights continue. 

🐉 My favorite AI newsletter, Roko's Basilisk. Focused on deep considerations in a world of newsletters just sharing links. Named after a vengeful AI. 

🔎 Agencies are scrutinizing AI as it cannibalizes paid search. All's fair in love and war?

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