Google plans to stop selling ads based on individuals browsing multiple sites, a change that could accelerate turmoil in the digital advertising industry.
Alphabet Inc. said on Wednesday it plans to stop using or investing in tracking technologies next year that uniquely identify web users as they move from one site to another on the Internet.
The decision, coming from the largest digital advertising company in the world, could help steer the industry away from using individualized tracking, which has come under increasing criticism from privacy advocates and faces regulatory scrutiny.
Google’s weight means that its move is also likely to cause a reaction from some competitors in the digital advertising business, where many companies rely on tracking individuals to target their ads, measure their effectiveness and prevent fraud. Google was responsible for 52% of global spending on digital advertising last year, of $ 292 billion, according to Jounce Media, a digital advertising consultancy.
“If digital advertising doesn’t evolve to meet people’s growing concerns about their privacy and how their personal identity is being used, we risk the future of the free, open web,” David Temkin, Google product manager who leads the change, said on a blog on Wednesday.