• Best CPA Networks
  • Best Cost-Per-Sale Affiliate Networks
  • Best Pay-Per-Call Networks
  • mThink Digital
  • Thought Leadership
    • White Papers
  • About
    • Content Marketing
    • Content Strategy
      • Web Content
      • Social Media Strategy
      • Webinars & Video
      • Thought Leadership
    • Performance Marketing
    • Portfolio
      • Revenue Performance
      • Accenture
      • Microsoft
      • Java Detour
      • Our Process
    • Contact Us

mThink

Blue Book Logo

BlueBook Logo

The Trusted Name in Performance Marketing

ROS Leaderboard

  • Home
  • Blue Book
    • About Blue Book
    • Blue Ribbon Panel
    • Interviews
    • Research Methodology
    • Back Issues
    • Advertising
      • Website Creative Specifications
      • Newsletter Creative Specifications
  • Best CPA Networks
  • Best Cost-Per-Sale Affiliate Networks
  • Best Pay-Per-Call Networks
  • Best European CPA Networks
  • Best CPA Networks for Affiliates
  • Best CPA Networks for Advertisers

Google Clamps Down On Tracking & Fingerprinting

May 8, 2019 by Chris Trayhorn, Publisher of mThink Blue Book

Google has announced new privacy controls in Chrome that will aggressively restrict device fingerprinting and the utility of third-party cookies across the web. They’re selling these plans as providing increased protection for end-users, but it is also clearly a way to cement Google’s industry dominance while handicapping other networks.

Google tracks everything through Chrome, of course, so third party cookies and fingerprinting have little utility for them, while fingerprinting in particular has become very important for many performance marketing networks. In combination with Apple’s recent announcement of ITP 2.2 in Safari, these changes are likely to make tracking and attribution for performance marketers increasingly difficult.

Google announced the changes to Chrome at their annual I/O conference this week, and many commentators suspect they are driven by the impact that GDPR has had on Google’s growth rate, particularly in Europe (see the attached figure showing a year-on-year reduction from 29% to less than half that). Their approach to GDPR so far has been regarded with some suspicion that it is itself not compliant, so the Chrome changes may be seen as a sign of how concerned Google is about the new regulatory environment in 2019.

at their annual I/O conference this week, and many commentators suspect they are driven by the impact that GDPR has had on Google’s growth rate, particularly in Europe (see the attached figure showing a year-on-year reduction from 29% to less than half that). Their approach to GDPR so far has been regarded with some suspicion that it is itself not compliant, so the Chrome changes may be seen as a sign of how concerned Google is about the new regulatory environment in 2019.

Many performance marketing networks have made device fingerprinting a central part of their pitch regarding their ability to track users across the web and to provide attribution data. Safari has already reduced the attribution window for certain first-party cookies to only 24 hours which will affect around 26% of mobile sessions. The Chrome changes will have an even broader impact:

Chrome also announced that it will more aggressively restrict fingerprinting across the web. When a user opts out of third-party tracking, that choice is not an invitation for companies to work around this preference using methods like fingerprinting, which is an opaque tracking technique. Google doesn’t use fingerprinting for ads personalization because it doesn’t allow reasonable user control and transparency. Nor do we let others bring fingerprinting data into our advertising products.

In the medium-term the question is going to be whether lawmakers and regulators allow Google to build into their browser a feature that effectively targets their competitors in a different market (advertising). Traditionally many would interpret that an obvious case of anti-competitive, monopsonistic behavior, however interpretations have changed over time and, let’s face it, Google is spending an awful on lobbyists these days.

Mashable points out:

The ability to better control who’s tracking you to sell you things sounds great for privacy transparency, but it’s also beneficial for Google’s bottom line. These changes could impact the amount of data third parties can collect on internet users and give Google an even greater edge over competitors. That’s potentially concerning for people like presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, who are interested in examining whether Google has too much power already. 

Time will tell exactly how this plays out, but right now expect to see a flood of announcements from networks talking up their ability to track without device fingerprinting. As in so many areas of performance marketing today, deep pockets and the ability to invest in new technology are important competitive advantages. Smaller networks are going to find things getting harder.

Related posts:

  1. Optimizing Pay Per Call Between the Margins Pay Per Call campaigns have rapidly gained in popularity in...
  2. 5 Mobile Marketing Tips that Work! Mobile internet usage overtook desktop traffic in 2014 when an...
  3. Clickbooth’s Performance Exchange Review – Part 2 The Performance Exchange offers improved publisher performance, increased scalability for...
  4. The Holiday Shopping List for Affiliate Marketers With the busiest shopping season of the year quickly approaching,...

Filed Under: Blue Book, Featured, Revenue, Revenue Blog Tagged With: affiliate marketing, Google fingerprinting, Google tracking, performance marketing, privacy controls

Search

ROS Col 2 Top

ROS Col 2 Mid

ROS Col 2 Low

Subscribe to our newsletter!

* indicates required

ROS Col 2 – 4 Misc

ROS Col 2 – 5 Misc

ROS Col 2 – 6 Misc

Recent Posts

  • How Financial Marketers Can Boost New Customer Growth on an Affiliate Model
  • Crypto Griftonomics And Influencers In Affiliate Marketing
  • Don’t forget about click-to-call: the most underrated vertical for social media traffic
  • Why The Speed of Relevance Can Help You Win
  • Why Should Marketers Invest In Pay Per Call?
  • CFPB Issues Warning About Contractual Gag Clauses and Consumer Reviews
  • New Blue Book Top 20 CPS Affiliate Network Results
  • FTC Rules With Civil Monetary Penalties for Deceptive Earnings Claims and Targeted Marketing May Be Forthcoming
  • New Blue Book Results: Top 20 CPA Affiliate Networks For 2022
  • FTC Rules With Civil Monetary Penalties for Deceptive Earnings Claims and Targeted Marketing May Be Forthcoming
  • Top 4 Ways To Make Your Call Campaigns More Successful
  • Perform[cb]’s New Mobile App For Partners Is A Game Changer
  • Shaping the Perfect Matchmaker for Content Creators
  • Removing Barriers for Influencers and Content Creators
  • 8 Easy Ways To Refresh An Email Campaign

About mThink

mThink is a specialist digital marketing company based in San Francisco. We focus on media buying, Facebook marketing, direct response, social and mobile. In addition mThink produces the annual Blue Book Rankings of major performance marketing networks. Read More »

Baseboard

Copyright ©2022 · mThink. All rights reserved.
3053 Fillmore Street, Suite 325 | (415) 787-0250
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy