Up until now, there has been some kind of wall between the typical user and the companies that advertise to them. Advertisements pop up left and right, and beyond the company showing them to us, we are left in the dark as to which other companies are involved in the display of the ad or which websites use third-party cookies. All this is about to change.
Google’s first step in the war on cookie anonymity is to release a browser extension that does several things:
Breaks down the wall. By using the extension, users are able to get a grasp on all of the companies involved in displaying an ad to them, including intermediary and ad technology companies that handle the creative.
“Why Am I Seeing This Ad”. This button has been present on all of Google’s ads for a while now, and it will remain as part of the Chrome extension so that users can glean which characteristics and factors contributed to them seeing the ad.
Gives advertisers initiative. Advertising companies can also utilise the API capabilities being released with the extension to display this information pre-emptively, opening up that dialogue between themselves and the customer.
Changing Cookie Controls
The extension is only Google’s first step towards Philippines Photo Editor better cookie controls. It’s meant to supplement the user experience by providing previously unavailable information. To supplement this, Google is also providing the user explicit control to their cookies, allowing informed users to make the decision of whether they want advertisements personalised to them based on gathered data.
Why is this important? Well, until recently, the only way a user could clear their browser of implanted cookies was to get rid of all of them. This is what Google has termed a “blunt approach”, and it’s not entirely practical as it also terminates other information such as remembered log-in details. A feature that allowed users (and website developers) to switch off third-party cookies while leaving first-party ones enabled didn’t exist. Now, that’s exactly what can be done.
Both the builders and visitors of websites can rescind their permission to allow third-party cookies. Google has also announced plans to eventually limit cross-site tracking cookies to HTTPS connections only, in the interest of adding more protection for users’ privacy.