Google Privacy Sandbox

As brands and agencies continue to scramble in the wake of Google’s decision to remove third-party cookies, the company has now started to release more details about its tool as an alternative for advertisers, a tool that uses Google’s first-party data.

It’s called the Privacy Sandbox and it aims to stop inappropriate tracking that infringes on a user’s privacy and the misuse of their data – while still allowing ad targeting within the Chrome browser.

What is the sandbox and how does it work?

The sandbox is reported to use 5 APIs which will replace cookies and be the solution for advertisers to receive aggregated data about their performance & attribution. The five APIs that will be used are

1. Trust Token API

This is a chrome extension that shows how many ads are loaded onto a webpage, what user data is being collected & used to show ads to and what advertisers are showing ads on the page.

It also allows publishers to differentiate between human users and bots to help to prevent fraud.

2. Aggregated Reporting API

The Aggregated Reporting API allows performance information to be accessed without tracking the user across multiple sites.

The data available will include things like impressions, views and reach, with it all being condensed into a single report.

This API will also mean it’s possible to store reporting data in the browser and send a report to a tech provider’s reporting endpoint.

 3. Conversion Measurement API

This API allows advertisers to see if a user converted by either clicking on the ad or by buying the product that was advertised to them.

It signals that a conversion took place without actually revealing any of the user’s personal information.

 4. Federated Learning of Cohorts

The Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) is machine learning that allows browsers to form a centralized model and work together without exchanging any data.

The FLoC that Google is wanting to use refers to grouping different sets of users by their browsing behaviour and trying to find common traits.

It’s important to note that no user data will be shared as this is all done anonymously,

By using FLoCs, the identities of users will be concealed, but it will still be possible to use the data from their browser history to determine their interests.

5. Browser based Retargeting

This is done using something called Turtledove – Similar to the current Retargeting with cookies but it uses the browser to store the information to hold information about what the advertiser thinks a person is interested in. It is not with the advertiser (eg. cookies).

An Advertiser can then serve ads based on a user’s interest, but cannot that information with other data about the person such as who they are, what pages they are visiting etc.

The privacy sandbox is still in the early days of its development and rollout, however, once it’s fully tested & finally released, an advertiser or publishers will lose access to 3rd party data & instead have to rely on the browser – so now more than ever is the best time to start getting prepared for the future Google is trying to bring to light.

If you want to know more about the Google Privacy Sandbox our team of dedicated Admatician is willing and eager to help.