Google said it will offer a “privacy-preserving alternative path” to its current capabilities.
Google announced big privacy updates that would limit the ability of advertisers to track Android users’ activity across apps, especially when it’s done covertly.
Details are sparse, but one specific change will get rid of advertising ID, a unique alphanumeric code attached to each Android user.
It’s probably because when Apple rolled out similar privacy changes last year, it upended mobile advertising. Meta was hit especially hard, since anyone who gets served ads for matching pet + owner PJs on Instagram can understand how lucrative personalized ads are for the tech giant.
After Meta revealed that Apple’s privacy update could cost it up to $10 billion in lost revenue, its market value plunged $232 billion the day after—the biggest single-day drop in Wall Street history.
Google swears its changes won’t be like Apple’s, though it didn’t mention its tech rival directly. In its blog post introducing the update, Google assured its partners it’ll a) offer a “privacy-preserving alternative path” to its current ad capabilities and b) won’t implement the changes for 2 years to give the industry time to adjust.