Apple blew up the ad market in 2020 by adding opt-in functionality to iOS. Since then, Google, the world’s largest advertiser, has slowed down the rollout of solutions for Android and Chrome. Google came up with an idea called the “Privacy Sandbox,” which sounds nice but is a new tracking system for Android and Chrome. Only once it’s up and running will Google say it will start blocking existing tracking methods, such as third-party cookies.
The company’s latest progress report is that Privacy Sandbox is coming to Android in beta. Google said: “The Android Beta privacy sandbox will be gradually rolled out from a small subset of Android 13 devices and expanded over time. If your device is selected for Beta, you will receive an Android notification and I will let you know.”
Chrome and Android’s privacy sandboxes track users by interest group rather than individually. This is what Google claims is an improvement in privacy. Android will soon create an advertising profile for you, and the user interface will allow you to block “interests” that you don’t want to see ads for. There’s an off switch and a list of apps that plug into the new tracking system. Probably something that uses a newer build of the Google Ads API.
Another user tracking system for Android is that Google’s OS already has advertising and targeting APIs, so the overall scheme doesn’t change much. Adding a privacy sandbox tracking system to Chrome is a much bigger change, as it’s the first time an advertising system has been built directly into Google’s browser. Google also hopes to disable Chrome’s ad blocker later this year. Google derives about 80% of its revenue from advertising, so forcing browsers and OSes to display ads is one of the few things that impacts the company’s bottom line.
Chrome’s “privacy sandbox” has at least some circuitous arguments for improving privacy. That’s because Google claims to block third-party tracking cookies in Chrome someday once the system is rolled out. On Android, privacy sandbox tracking is In addition To all normal individual tracking methods; not marketed as a replacement for anything. Android’s privacy sandbox is ineffective and Google has no plans to reduce tracking on Android. The company said last year that it “will support existing ad platform functionality for at least two years and will provide adequate notice in advance of any future changes.” So even in the best-case scenario, Google doesn’t plan to answer on his 2020 tracking cuts on iOS until at least 2024.
