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Every Major Advertising Group Is Blasting Apple for Blocking Cookies in the Safari Browser (adweek.com)

Posted by msmash on from the fighting-back dept.

The biggest advertising organizations say Apple will "sabotage" the current economic model of the internet with plans to integrate cookie-blocking technology into the new version of Safari. Marty Swant, reporting for AdWeek: Six trade groups -- the Interactive Advertising Bureau, American Advertising Federation, the Association of National Advertisers, the 4A's and two others -- say they're "deeply concerned" with Apple's plans to release a version of the internet browser that overrides and replaces user cookie preferences with a set of Apple-controlled standards. The feature, which is called "Intelligent Tracking Prevention," limits how advertisers and websites can track users across the internet by putting in place a 24-hour limit on ad retargeting. In an open letter expected to be published this afternoon, the groups describe the new standards as "opaque and arbitrary," warning that the changes could affect the "infrastructure of the modern internet," which largely relies on consistent standards across websites. The groups say the feature also hurts user experience by making advertising more "generic and less timely and useful."

23 of 442 comments (clear)

  1. The varnish is off by AlanObject · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Who could have predicted that consumer privacy would be a lesser concern than revenue flow to industry trade groups?

    1. Re:The varnish is off by Kenja · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Anyone. Anyone could have predicted that...

      --

      "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    2. Re: The varnish is off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Advertising is a wasteful industry. It's completely not needed at all. The pharma industry unethically and immorality advertisers to consumers and give doctors perks for selling their shit instead of letting the professionals pick the appropriate medicine and treatment

      Most ads for products are for complete junk nobody actually needs. The advertising industry is a leach on society

    3. Re: The varnish is off by JohnFen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There is nothing inherently wrong with advertising. It serves an important role.

      But it's gone very wrong, and not just online. I think it's gone wrong in three basic ways:

      1) It generally fails to fulfill one of the primary reasons for its existence: to actually and honestly inform people about products.

      2) It has become too pervasive. Ads shouldn't cover every square inch of everything.

      3) It has become way too intrusive.

      Personally, I'm resigned to the notion that #1 and 2 will never change.

      #3, though, is completely unacceptable. The fact that advertising companies spend so much time and energy working to defeat my efforts to keep them out of my metaphorical drawers means that they have placed themselves in the role of my enemy.

      And since they have chosen to be my enemy, I will treat them as such until/unless the time comes that they can act in a more decent fashion.

    4. Re: The varnish is off by cyber-vandal · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not to mention the psychological problems caused by playing with people's self-esteem.

  2. Re:Can ads get any less timely and useful? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I constantly get ads for the thing I've recently purchased.

    I can't imagine a less effective form of advertising.

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  3. might get me to use Safari by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This might just get me to use Safari.. The idea that advertisers have any right to users browsing habits is a concept that needs to be crushed.

  4. Re:Google, please get on board with this!!! by captainproton1971 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You do know that Google is an advertising company, right?

  5. It must be good then! by L-One-L-One · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If "Every Major Advertising Group" hates this, then it shows that Apple is probably doing the right thing :-)

    These guys killed "Do-Not-Track" in the US and made a joke of "cookie laws" in the EU. Looks like now they have found a stronger opponent.

    1. Re:It must be good then! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Looks like now they have found a stronger opponent.

      One that wants them to pay-for-play in their Walled Garden.

    2. Re:It must be good then! by Anubis+IV · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's both, in this case.

      1) Their major competitors rely on advertising, so disrupting the advertising market has the potential to damage their competitors.

      2) Ads diminish the user experience, so disrupting their ability to operate provides immense benefit to their users and could become a differentiating factor, given that their competitors can't afford to attack ads so directly.

      So yup, it's self-serving, but their interests align with consumers in this case, so we get to win.

    3. Re:It must be good then! by sconeu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. It does not make us friends. It may make us temporary allies.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  6. Block third-party cookies, done... by bradley13 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I hadn't thought about it, but all major browsers allow users to block third-party cookies. If they would only make this the default behavior, it would do a world of good. And piss of the marketeers even more.

    The only problem I ever have is when I want to read comments on a site that has outsource them to an external service like Disqus. But then, that's usually a good reason to skip the site entirely...

    --
    Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
    1. Re:Block third-party cookies, done... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And most of them will die off, and nothing of value will be lost.

      There was an internet before it was taken over by the likes of marketers, and it was great.

    2. Re:Block third-party cookies, done... by Quirkz · · Score: 5, Insightful

      * I understand that I haven't clicked on an ad on purpose since 1997, so even if blocked entirely, they're not losing any money from me.
      * I understand that advertisers can still advertise without cookies. They just can't invade my privacy to do it, and they might have to pick some other metric (like being topical to the site they're on) as an idea generator.
      * I understand that sites can still run ads and make money without the use of massive spying organizations. They can make their own ads. They can use cookie-less ads. They can do a lot of things.

      So no, I don't see how adding some privacy and cookie-blocking makes everything all go away automatically, without any recourse.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
  7. Apple = Privacy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For all of the complaints people have about Apple, I feel the one thing that really sets them apart is their continuing effort to protect the user's privacy, even at the cost of software functionality. Siri has been lagging far behind other services, and at least some of it is due to her inability to track a user's preferences and habits. Apple is now introducing changes to the software that attempt to solve this by storing the information locally on the user's device so that government and law enforcement officials can't "demand" the data from Apple.

  8. Subsidies by JBMcB · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple doesn't subsidize their hardware by selling your private information to people.

    Ever wonder why Google gives away Android?

    --
    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
    1. Re:Subsidies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Exactly. You buy an Apple device with the "Apple Tax" and the deal is done. I'd much rather pay up front and walk away than have Google or other ad companies invading my privacy.

  9. Re:Google, please get on board with this!!! by rogoshen1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They're far creepier than just an ad company. an ad company wants to sell you shit, or direct you towards people who want to sell you shit.

    Google wants to *own* all of your online activities; for reasons they haven't even though of .. yet.

  10. Another reason why I use Safari mostly by GreatDrok · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So on my Mac I have Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Firefox has a whole heap of extensions that help keep things tight so I'll use that in the darker regions of the net, and Chrome works well with Google Docs so that's pretty much all I use it for. Safari is my main browser and that's what I'm using now. For all the hate Apple gets they did kill Flash and if they can kill cookies then all the better, especially on mobile.

    As others have said, Google is an advertising company and for all the good things about Android, that's the main thing that keeps me away. You would think though that the rise of AdBlock, and do not track, and cookie controls would be enough to tell these advertisers that we don't like what they're doing? Don't they track that stuff?

    --
    "I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
  11. Re:Google, please get on board with this!!! by taustin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They are, indeed, more than just an ad company. But over 90% of the total revenue comes from advertising.

    They odds of Google "getting on board" with this are less than zero. They may well hire ninja assassins to take out the Apple execs behind this.

  12. Anything these jerks are against... by J053 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the advertising industry is opposed to this move, then I'm all for it. Fuck them.

  13. Don't you want "timely and useful" ads? by clovis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The groups say the feature also hurts user experience by making advertising more "generic and less timely and useful."

    If timely and useful advertising is so valuable to us users, then why are they giving it away for free?
    They should make us pay a subscription fee to get timely and useful ads.
    And seeing what percentage of the population that signs up to pay for "timely and useful" ads would indicate whether the advertisers are full of shit or not.