This Week In Digital Advertising
Privacy-First Browsing for Mozilla Firefox and Safari
Firefox made a big announcement this week in browser privacy. New users will receive a privacy-first browser with anti-tracking settings set by default. Users can switch the setting back on, but Firefox cautioned this as they continue testing.
Mozilla has stated that other tech companies are misleading users about their security. By making users opt-in to privacy settings usually leads to no security changes at all. “The general argument from tech companies is that consumers can always decide to dive into their browser settings and modify the defaults. The reality is that most people will never do that.”
Apple will also be launching new anti-tracking settings for Safari in an effort to protect user privacy. Mobile users are using Safari 50% of the time to browse. Apple has become a leader in user privacy and believes it’s time to change the entire online advertising industry. They have spoken out in the past about Google and Facebook’s use of end user data. With the new Safari roll out this shows users that Apple wants to continue championing privacy.
The new tracking options in Safari will store ad clicks and then issue conversion reports, but will delay the release of the reports from anywhere from 24 to 48 hours. All advertisers will know is that within the past 24 to 48 hours, an online ad on a specific site had a conversion. Advertisers will not know who clicked it or be able to see any proprietary information about the user. This is Apple’s effort to keep some sort of middle ground where users privacy is protected and advertisers can report on how a campaign performed.
Google Chrome still remains the top browser for users world wide. However, these privacy changes give users more options on what data they are sharing with these companies.
How will this change disrupt the online advertising industry?
Cookies and tracking pixels follow your every move in the world of online advertising. All clients want to know the effectiveness of the digital campaign as well as the customer journey that lead to a conversion. Cookies and tracking are important to advertisers because they can help tell the story of a customers journey.
This current method of online advertising can provide information to companies that could potentially impact the privacy of users. As we’ve seen in recent years with third party information sharing. Which is why security needs to remain top of mind.
If the industry continues to shift, expect data gathering to become more difficult. Digital advertisers will see an effect on how users will be tracked and reported on in real time. Our team has been working on reporting data this week and is looking into future adjustments. What have your digital marketing teams been doing as these changes roll out?
