Cookie Changes Means Big Digital Advertising Changes

Google is known to be the largest Internet search company. They are considering a change that will effect how the online browsing activity is tracked. This could shake up the digital advertising industry. Google accounts for about a third of worldwide online ad revenue. They are developing an anonymous identifier for advertising purposes. It would replace third-party cookies. With Third party cookies, advertisers track people’s Internet browsing activity for marketing purposes. The purpose of the anonymous identifier being transmitted to the advertisers is to give consumers more privacy and control over their browsing. This person didn’t want to be identified because Google has not made the proposal public yet even though the company plans to reach out to industry participants in the matter of weeks. The online advertising industry will closely watch Google’s move due to the fact that it’s the industry’s leader and Chrome browser is the world’s most popular browser (zooming past Safari, Internet Explorer and Firefox). The cookie technology is used by the ad industry to build a picture of the consumer’s interests. Once that information is collect, more relevant ad will be shown. It also has raised a privacy concern as well. Apple’s Safari has blocked third party cookies since 2003. If Google follow through with its proposal, consumers will have more control over how they are tracked but on the other hand, the power will be in the hands of the two largest technology companies.  The Interactive Advertising Bureau represents the industry. They want some type of tracking technology available for the advertisers according to Mike Zaneis who is the groups’s general counsel. He doesn’t believe that is the best idea to leave ad identifiers in the hands of large companies like this. Zaneis thinks that the companies could depreciate the use of he identifier on a whim, which will underdetermine in billions of dollars in digital spending. Mozilla is currently battling with IAB who announce a new policy in blocking third party cookies in Firefox by default. Google’s proposal isn’t as drastic because they are developing their own identifier as an alternate tracking tool. The identifier can be reset every year by the browser. The consumer will have the option to create a second identifier for browsing sessions they want to keep private. Advertisers can have access to the identifiers as long as they comply with the terms of the program.