Apple blocking ads that follow users around web is 'sabotage', says industry

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Read apple’s response 

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: September 19, 2017 at 4:30:39 AM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Apple blocking ads that follow users around web is 'sabotage', says industry
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> Apple blocking ads that follow users around web is 'sabotage', says industry
> New iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra will stop ads following Safari users, prompting open letter claiming Apple is 
> destroying internet’s economic model
> By Alex Hern
> Sep 18 2017
> <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/18/apple-stopping-ads-follow-you-around-internet-sabotage-advertising-industry-ios-11-and-macos-high-sierra-safari-internet>
>
> For the second time in as many years, internet advertisers are facing unprecedented disruption to their business 
> model thanks to a new feature in a forthcoming Applesoftware update.
>
> iOS 11, the latest version of Apple’s operating system for mobile devices, will hit users’ phones and tablets on 
> Tuesday. It will include a new default feature for the Safari web browser dubbed “intelligent tracking prevention”, 
> which prevents certain websites from tracking users around the net, in effect blocking those annoying ads that follow 
> you everywhere you visit.
>
> The tracking prevention system will also arrive on Apple’s computers 25 September, as part of the High Sierra update 
> to macOS. Safari is used by 14.9% of all internet users, according to data from StatCounter.
>
> Six major advertising consortia have already written an open letter to Apple expressing their “deep concern” over the 
> way the change is implemented, and asking the company to “to rethink its plan to … risk disrupting the valuable 
> digital advertising ecosystem that funds much of today’s digital content and services”.
>
> Tracking of users around the internet has become crucial to the inner workings of many advertising networks. By using 
> cookies, small text files placed on a computer which were originally created to let sites mark who was logged in, 
> advertisers can build a detailed picture of the browsing history of members of the public, and use that to more 
> accurately profile and target adverts to the right individuals. 
>
> Many of these cookies, known as “third-party” cookies because they aren’t controlled by the site that loads them, can 
> be blocked by browsers already. But advertisers also use “first-party” cookies, loaded by a site the user does visit 
> but updated as they move around the net. Blocking those breaks many other aspects of the internet that users expect 
> to work, such as the ability to log into sites using Facebook or Twitter passwords. 
>
> To tackle this, the new Safari feature uses a “machine learning model”, Apple says, to identify which first-party 
> cookies are actually desired by users, and which are placed by advertisers. If the latter, the cookie gets blocked 
> from third-party use after a day, and purged completely from the device after a month, drastically limiting the 
> ability of advertisers to keep track of where on the web Safari users visit.
>
> It is this algorithmic approach which spurred the six US advertising bodies, including the Interactive Advertising 
> Bureau and the Association of National Advertisers, to write to Apple. In their letter, published by AdWeek, the 
> advertisers argue: “The infrastructure of the modern internet depends on consistent and generally applicable 
> standards for cookies, so digital companies can innovate to build content, services and advertising that are 
> personalised for users and remember their visits. 
>
> “Apple’s Safari move breaks those standards and replaces them with an amorphous set of shifting rules that will hurt 
> the user experience and sabotage the economic model for the internet.”
>
> Apple responded to the letter saying: “Ad tracking technology has become so pervasive that it is possible for ad 
> tracking companies to recreate the majority of a person’s web browsing history. This information is collected without 
> permission and is used for ad re-targeting, which is how ads follow people around the internet.”
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/wa8dzp



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20170919045849:BEFFBE8E-9D18-11E7-A2DD-DB347AB8CF01
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com