Ad targeting: Google finally joins Apple

In 2020, Apple introduced new user privacy measures on iPhones. This was a real blow to the digital advertising sector as it made it possible to restrict the targeting of ads to users. Two years later, it’s about Google, which owns Android, striving to implement the same measures.

However, unlike Apple, Google doesn’t want to implement it right away. The company gives itself a period of two years to determine the appropriate provisions that will suit all parties.

Apple and Google, concerned about protecting the privacy of their users

So Google has announced that it now intends to phase out advertising identifiers in the long term. They are widely used by digital marketers to adapt their advertising presentation to the individual behavior of users. A technology that many people consider a violation of their privacy.

While advertising identifiers are still valid on Android mobile phones, this is no longer the case with iPhones. Apple has allowed its customers to completely opt out of tracking their iPhones for two years now. A decision that slashed sales of Meta, the parent company of Facebook. The company has recorded, according to Zuckerberg, 10 billion dollars loss Because of the apple.

The losses would be greater if Google, in turn, decided to implement the same measures. In addition to being the owners of the two major smartphone operating systems, Apple and Google are also major sellers of wearable devices.

Google is slowing down so you don’t get burned

Apple doesn’t need advertising revenue to survive, it mainly derives its profits from selling its devices. The The latest numbers from the Cupertino company On behalf of the last year there to testify. On the other hand, Google cannot deliver the same speech. The company, which is headquartered in Mountain View, generates a portion of its revenue through online advertising.

Dealing with this without taking a step back would be like cutting a branch that she has been sitting on for a long time. This is why Google does not intend to put an immediate end to these advertising practices which are even more deplored.

You also want to take the time to reach consensus with other players in the sector. The idea is to manage the time needed to allow everyone to change their policy so that they don’t bear the brunt of the new directives. A way of doing things that is thus different from Apple’s arrogant attitude.

Furthermore, it should be noted that this is not the first time that Google has looked into the issue of ad targeting. In 2019, the company implemented an initiative called Privacy Sandbox. The latter goal was to help companies collect user data based on interest groups rather than relying on ad hoc tracking.

So it seems that Google is leaning more towards this option, which it considers to be able to improve the security of user data without reducing the effectiveness of ad hoc campaigns to nothing. Finally, it is worth noting that the vast majority of applications available on Google are directly from online advertising.

source : financial times