Google's new ad targeting tech and what we know so far

Google is constantly influencing how the internet works Their latest ad targeting tech entered the testing phase a few weeks ago hoping to fix some of the biggest problems The current trials are done on randomly selected users and they can be turned off by disabling thirdparty cookiesGoogle had announced this change but hasnrsquot provided more details on how it works and when the trial starts until recently The fact that they didnrsquot inform the users about the testing phase raises concerns about a breach of privacy and user trust Letrsquos dig into the details we know so farNew FLoC Tech Should Replace CookiesGooglersquos idea with FLoC is to help advertisers improve ad targeting when thirdparty cookies get removed for good The trial is supposed to collect FLoC IDs from Chrome users along with the standard thirdparty cookiesIn other words all trackers that are already used to collect online user behavior will now get FLoC IDs as well The cohort ID will then tell the advertisers how you behave online making it the perfect addition to improving behavioral profiles already set up by most trackersThe Trial Affects 537 of Global Chrome Users and Website OwnersThe current trial involves about 0537 of all Chrome users across Australia Canada Brazil Indonesia India Mexico and a few other countries In the US users will be chosen randomly no matter what privacy settings they use However if you turn off thirdparty cookies you will be able to make sure that you are not among the selected fewThe team behind this new technology wants Google to include up to 537 of all users to provide more accurate results and better data quality If Google says yes to this proposal the test will affect up to a hundred million users worldwide Thatrsquos an alarming number because users might not get a heads up before being included in the trialGoogle also added websites that use their ads services into the trial by sending HTTP headers to the FLoC calculations without telling the site owners Website owners will simply lose some control over their userrsquos data without anyone telling them about it It is something we should be concerned about as it affects privacy policies directlyNew FLoC User IDs Available for Those Who AskNaturally you can sign up for Chromersquos new tech trial if you want to Doing so will allow Google to access your FLoC ID connecting you to a new advertiser network where every site you visit gets access to your informationAccording to Googlersquos plan the idea is to segment users according to their online behavior into over 33000 possible cohorts Google started small with only 256 potential cohorts but when the test was successful they scaled things up to effectively group users into the right cohorts While the overall idea is good the way everything is set up doesnrsquot look promising for the enduserGooglersquos trial will probably last until July 13th but the final results will be subject to change however the company feels it is in the right Until the new algorithm is established FLoC grouping can change on the goRising Concerns About Online PrivacyThe vast majority of Americans feel that they have little or no control over the data collected by companies and the government Over 8437 of users think that they donrsquot have enough control over their data and over 8137 believe that the risks outweigh the benefitsThe topic of online privacy is one of the most significant issues for internet users across the world Ever since the Facebook trial where the world realized how user tracking is used the trust users have has greatly deterioratedThus people became more aware of the privacy violations that might happen online As a result users might no longer be as eager to use certain services or supply them with personal information For instance many dropped WhatsApp after its confusing alert about Facebook They exchanged the widely popular instant messaging app for Signal a much more privacyfocused alternative And it might be just the beginningMany apps now are obliged to provide ad targeting or data sharing with third parties on an optin basis Thus the chances you you can disable these features via settings on many apps you use However bear in mind that all these features are typically active by default Hence you will need to disable them manuallyFurthermore more people seem to use VPN services as a way to become more private and anonymous online Tools like Atlas VPN are responsible for establishing a secure connection to the internet They encrypt information about your traffic meaning that external entities wonrsquot be able to see it This secure tunnel might prevent many entities from snooping on you including your Internet Service Provider and marketersFinal WordsEven though there is a big fuss about online privacy it all depends on how you choose to proceed You can continue keeping default settings if you enjoy seeing ads that are not random but relevant to you However bear in mind that some caution online is always welcome Thus treat every situation differently and decide on how you should act