Privacy requirements are always evolving with the advertising industry taking the biggest hit of such changes. Google’s only competitor for mobile operating system’s dominance, Apple, has taken the initiative of protecting consumer privacy and Google is obligated to follow suit.
Recall that Apple brought the era of ID for advertisers to an end when it introduced privacy features that empowered users to give consent before they can be monetized. To remain in the good books of privacy advocates, users and regulators, Google had to demonstrate that it has the best interests of its users in mind. This led to the introduction of Privacy Sandbox for Android.
Privacy Sandbox for Android is a suite of technologies designed to replace today’s third-party cookies. With privacy issues taking the front-burner in the tech industry, the system is Google’s strategy for improving Android devices in terms of privacy while still supporting the mobile ecosystem on which effective advertising thrives.
Android Privacy Sandbox is a multi-year project that will provide the tools needed for the continued existence of the advertising ecosystem alongside much more privacy for Android users. In other words, the suite of technologies will limit the tracking of users and function without device identifiers.
Device identifiers are critical to the success of the marketing industry as they provide a proven method of tracking how ads perform so advertisers can make informed decisions. Rather than a swift elimination of device identifiers, Google will discontinue them gradually over the next two years, giving developers time to test the privacy sandbox proposals and give feedback.
The proposal covers key points like SDK Runtime, Topics, FLEDGE on Android and Attribution Reporting. You can read further on the proposals if you’re a developer.
Since its announcement in February this year, Google has worked closely with app developers and advertisers on its proposals as it hopes to roll out the system in a limited number of Android 13 devices.
“Beginning early next year, we plan to roll out the initial Privacy Sandbox Beta to Android 13 mobile devices so that developers can take the next steps in testing these new solutions… We’ll start with a small percentage of devices and increase at a time”, the company’s recent press release states.
“Note that the Developer Previews will continue to be released and this is where we’ll first deliver the latest features for early feedback before being released on production devices.”
Some analysts believe that Google isn’t doing enough to achieve significant privacy improvements while others are concerned that the tech giant will become the single player to control which ads users see on their Android devices. In other words, Google will have a strong influence on all other ad networks.
Despite opposing voices, Google is working on the privacy Sandbox project and invites developers to test the solutions. Two years should be enough time for Google to receive feedback on these proposals and act on them to address potential problems while keeping an eye on competitive business interests and regulatory concerns. If you’re interested in participating in the testing, you can declare it here.