Google to discontinue Android ID system for targeted ads
3 Min Read
After Apple's decision last year to restrict apps from obtaining user behavior for ads, Google has now taken the decision to discontinue the ID tracking system that exposes user information.
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Illustration by Elena Lacey. (Getty Images)
On Wednesday, Google announced that it will be discontinuing cross-app ad trackers on Androids, which is a move that will bolster data privacy for users holding an Android smartphone.
This will change how advertising and data collection takes place on Androids; this especially comes after Apple's last year's decision to implement new restrictions on apps that track user behavior to target ads.
Apple's decision affected companies that sell ads based on mobile data tracking. Those include Snapchat and Meta, the latter revealing that it expects Apple's decision to cost it $10 billion in ad revenue in 2022.
Android users are ascribed special IDs that ad companies use to create a consumer profile, depending on their behavior. Such a marketing strategy allows companies to use their profiles to target consumers with precise, targeted ads on their screens.
The ID system will be discontinued as per Google's new policy, so that a more private advertising system would limit data exposure to third parties.
Although given the numbers of players involved in app economy, the industry would largely disagree.
However, US and European lawmakers have been seeking ways to regulate operating systems and browsers more private.
This regulation comes amid lawsuits against Facebook and Google accusing them of maintaining control over the advertising sales market by illegal means.
The lawsuit says Google kept its chokehold on the advertising sales market by inflating the price of advertisements for brands and suppressing competition from other ad exchanges.
Last September, Google, Amazon and Apple also faced lawsuits on privacy matters.
European Parliament proceeds with proposal to ban some targeted ads
The European Parliament voted last month to adopt the first draft of a law aimed at limiting Big Tech's intrusive advertising practices, as reported by Bloomberg. The draft was approved by the Parliament with 530 votes in favor, 78 votes against, and 80 abstentions.
The Digital Services Act, which was first introduced in 2020, will prohibit platforms like Google, Amazon, and Facebook, owned by Meta, from utilizing sensitive information like race, religion, or sexual orientation for targeted advertising.
It would force businesses to make it easy for users to opt out of tracking, and will put pressure on platforms to remove illegal content and items, such as hate speech and counterfeit goods, from the internet.
