Google published a detailed response to the Privacy Sandbox claims in a recent report by the IAB Tech Lab. In a short statement attached to the response, Google said:
“This analysis contains many misconceptions and inaccuracies, and we believe it is important to correct them in order to provide accurate information to the ecosystem. Overall, this report , appears to ignore the broader purpose of the Privacy Sandbox, which is to enhance user privacy while supporting effective digital advertising.”
The IAB Tech Lab's assessment identifies challenges advertisers and media companies will face when using the proposed solution, including the abandonment of event-based impression and click metrics and the need for significant changes within the programmatic advertising ecosystem. Several possible issues have been identified.
why do we care? Google appears to have been caught off guard by Tech Lab's scathing comments, and responded with only a very brief email the same day the comments were posted. We've obviously been working hard ever since. The new response spans 28 pages of detailed criticism. Will IAB respond?
Google's privacy sandbox recently took a hit from the UK government's Competition and Markets Authority, which told Google not to phase out third-party cookies until a series of objections were resolved. Does anyone else spend money on cookies that will be gone by the end of the year?
Google's main complaint. Google cited four main areas of the Tech Lab report as objectionable.
- Fix any gaps in the assumptions or use cases supported by the Privacy Sandbox API.
- Use cases not currently supported by third-party cookies are not covered.
- Feedback or suggestions that may reproduce cross-site tracking and violate privacy goals.
- Areas where solutions need to be determined by the ad tech provider (rather than the browser or platform) or where ad tech providers need to adapt new tactics built on the privacy sandbox.
Google said it welcomes additional feature requests and suggestions for potential improvements from the IAB Tech Lab, adding that it would “allow third-party cookies in 2024, subject to addressing remaining competitive concerns from the UK.” “We continue to move forward with our phase-out plans,” the competition and markets authority added. ” Google's full answer is here.
Additional reporting by Nicola Agius
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About the author
Kim Davis is currently an editor at MarTech. Kim, who was born in London but has spent almost 30 years as a New Yorker, started covering his software for Enterprise 10 years ago. His experience includes his SaaS for enterprises, digital advertising data-driven urban planning, and applications of SaaS, digital technology, and data in the marketing field. He first wrote about marketing technology as an editor for Haymarket's marketing technology website, The Hub. Later, this his website became a channel for the established Direct He marketing brand DMN. Kim joined DMN Proper in 2016 as a senior editor, became editor-in-chief, and then served as editor-in-chief until January 2020. Shortly thereafter, he joined Third Door Media as Martech's Editorial Director.
Kim is associate editor of The Local: East Village, the New York Times' hyperlocal news site, and previously worked as an editor for academic publications and as a music journalist. He has written reviews of hundreds of New York restaurants on his personal blog and is an occasional guest contributor to Eater.
