Concerns Mount Over Google's Privacy Proposals

Google Chrome has a 70% market share, making it one of the dominant platforms of the internet. That means its withdrawal of support for third-party cookies in 2022 is a fundamental reboot for the entire online ecosystem. In particular, it brings into question the prevailing business model of target advertising. Unlike its Silicon Valley rival Apple, Google cannot jettison third-party ad tech, both financially and in the court of public opinion, especially as antitrust authorities have it in their crosshairs. Since 2019, the Google Chrome team has drip-fed plans for Privacy Sandbox, the collective name for its proposals to sustain an ad-funded internet while meeting increased demands for online user privacy. Privacy Sandbox has ushered in new terminologies to the lexicon of online marketing, with ad-tech luminaries debating the proposals since they were announced. Google’s quandary Public debate is happening primarily through the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), where the Google Chrome team has suggested that all ad auction dynamics would be contained within the browser (the plan was originally dubbed TurtleDove). But critics claim this will tip the odds too much in the favor of Google’s own ad stack and shut out independent ad tech. This encapsulates the quandary the Google organization faces: Its web browser cannot be seen to favor its own ad stack over rivals. Separately, the Google Ads team has countered with a compromise known as DoveKey. Essentially, this involves ad auctions still happening within Chrome, but key data that could decide the eventual winner of any ad auction would be sent to a “key value server.” Independent ad-tech players have responded with counterproposals of their own, seeking assurances that Google will not act as the key value server, or gatekeeper, that will decide the beneficiary of any ad auctions within the Chrome web browser. Speaking with Adweek in October, Chetna Bindra, Google’s lead on product management for user trust and transparency, said the Chrome team has been “leaning in to open-source web development” for over a decade. “There’s a similar model here again,” she said, referencing the Privacy Sandbox debates within W3C. "We gave that two-year timeframe [for the end of the cookie, beginning in January 2020] to have these kinds of discussions," she added. "There’s still a lot more discussions, algorithm development and testing of use cases across the ecosystem, and the hope is that it will be done within W3C.” Anxiety, concerns and cynicism However, as 2020 draws to a close, anxiety is widespread. And, as usual with Google-led initiatives, some cynicism prevails among publishers beholden to Google’s vice-like grip on the web. Multiple sources told Adweek that Google’s Privacy Sandbox communications to date have been too conceptual. They want more concrete examples of how the proposals will impact their day-to-day operations and, ultimately, revenue. Matt Prohaska, CEO of Prohaska Consulting, told Adweek a lot of publishers are concerned about Privacy Sandbox’s slow developments. “We’re in an awkward phase where there are not enough details,” he added. Paul Bannister, chief strategy officer at ad management service CafeMedia, told Adweek that premium publishers have concerns over how Privacy Sandbox will impact how they best decide to monetize ad inventory within Chrome. For instance, if Google Chrome controls the amount of user data made available to marketers, how can they know what decision to make in a way that delivers the most revenue? https://twitter.com/pbannist/status/1331261547780435968 “As a publisher, you can say, ‘I don’t want to call TurtleDove [to monetize ad inventory],’ but at that point your page functions like it does when a Safari user [from Apple’s cookie-less web browser] is on your page,” Bannister said. “Bid prices will be lower.” What's the catch? While many acknowledge that Google’s scale means it is the only realistic single entity with the resources necessary to lead such a fundamental reboot of the internet, some question its true intentions. While Google has promised that more experimental Privacy Sandbox tools for publishers and ad-tech companies are on the way in 2021, some have expressed cynicism over its timing. One publisher, who requested anonymity due to their employer’s PR policies, said Google’s two-year notice for such a fundamental reengineering of the internet was a calculated move. “Google’s ideas, by default, take precedence,” they said. “Publishers are nervous about that.” They went on to add, “Whether or it’s obvious from Day 1, or it comes later down the line, we’ll have to see.” Government oversight Meanwhile, U.K. lobby group Marketers for an Open Web (MOW) have filed a complaint with the Competition Markets Authority requesting that authorities impose an injunction on the Privacy Sandbox proposals. MOW director James Rosewell, among other sources, told Adweek that publishers’ concerns over Privacy Sandbox are not just limited to how online ad auctions might operate within Google, specifically its proposed WebID. According to critics, this is a mechanism that would grant Google excessive control over how publishers register visitors to their websites. “The [Chrome] browser controls that sign-on process,” Rosewell said. “It’s no longer delivered through open web technologies … it’s tech created and controlled by the browser.” Separately, the publisher source added, “All things suddenly are controlled at the browser end? That’s huge disintermediation.” Can Google be trusted? In its response to the MOW’s complaints, Google reiterated its commitment to open tech. However, several Adweek sources echoed a recent U.S. Congressional report claiming that Google exercises an outsize influence in web standards body W3C, and that its assertions about transparency must be questioned. Separate developments underline just how crucial it is that Google strikes the right balance between user privacy while sustaining competition in the online advertising market. For instance, the Justice Department is reportedly seeking a forced sale of Google Chrome as antitrust investigations continue. Amid these antirust headwinds, it’s clear the stakes for Google and independent ad tech concerning Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox have never been higher.