As Apple moves forward with its anti-tracking features on iOS and Google continues refining your Privacy Sandbox to serve targeted web ads without third party cookies , it's time for Android to step in and take center stage. Google announced today that it is starting a "multi-year initiative to build Privacy Sandbox on Android, with the goal of introducing new, more private advertising solutions."
The Privacy Sandbox is a set of proposals that would eventually become a set of open standards that Google hopes the industry will assimilate. Last year, one of the main focuses that Google presented was FLoC (or Federated Learning of Cohorts) which would group people with thousands of other users with similar browsing histories. How far will we go. That was replaced last month by the Themes API, which allows Chrome to use your browsing history to show publishers a list of five topics it determines you're interested in, again based on your browsing history.
What that demonstrates is the current fluidity of Privacy Sandbox, being a collection of ideas at this point. In today's announcement, VP of Product Management for Android Security and Privacy Anthony Chavez wrote that "these solutions will limit data sharing between users and operate without identifiers between apps." That would include advertising IDs. Chavez said, “We are also exploring technologies and advancements that reduce the potential for covert data collection, including more secure ways for apps to integrate with advertising SDKs.”
But there are no real concrete methods being implemented right now, and Google is in the design and testing stage. Starting today, the company said developers can “review our initial design proposals and share feedback on the site for the developers themselves.” It is planning to "release developer previews later in the year, with a beta release by the end of the year." Google also promised "regular updates on designs and schedules."
In the meantime, the company said it will continue to "support the ad platform's features for at least two years, with the intention of providing substantial notice before any future changes."
Google also referenced Apple's focus on iOS today (without naming the iPhone maker), acknowledging that "other platforms have taken a different approach to their ad privacy." But Chavez described that approach as "a blunt restriction of existing technologies used by the developers and advertisers themselves." The company believes it still needs to provide a way for businesses to serve targeted ads to users and make sure those ads are actually relevant.
Chavez added that "we know this initiative needs input from across the industry to be successful," and the company argued with statements from many partners in its news release today. These include Snap, Duolingo, Rovio, Activision Blizzard and seven other app makers, who expressed similar sentiments about the privacy needs of Android app users. Google's Privacy Sandbox has already faced the EU regulatory scrutiny and the United Kingdom, and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of this last accepted Google's latest proposals last week .
Clearly, there's a lot of work to do as internet giants and the advertising industry figure out how best to balance personalized ads with user privacy, and Google's inclusion of Android in its considerations.
Do you need to update your website?
Do you need any of our web design services? In IndianWebs We have extensive experience, and a team of programmers and web designers in different specialties, we are capable of offering a wide range of services in the creation of custom web pages. Whatever your project is, we will tackle it.