Although Google has introduced many privacy-focused features to its products and services over time, there are still concerns over the data collection of users. Google recently announced a “Privacy Sandbox” initiative (even for Android), which is an ad-targeting system that will generate ad revenues for advertisers without compromising the privacy of users. Now, the search giant has announced to start global trials of the new Privacy Sandbox features in its Chrome browser. Check out the details below.
Google Announces Global Trials of Privacy Sandbox in Chrome
Google recently shared an official blog post to announce the next stage of testing for the Privacy Sandbox ads relevance and measurement proposals. In the post, the company confirmed that developers across the world can now test the Topics, FLEDGE, and Attribution Reporting APIs in the Canary version of Chrome, starting today.
“We’ll progress to a limited number of Chrome Beta users as soon as possible. Once things are working smoothly in Beta, we’ll make API testing available in the stable version of Chrome to expand testing to more Chrome users.” wrote Vinay Goel, the Product Director of Privacy Sandbox at Chrome.“
For those unaware, Google’s Privacy Sandbox system relies on various components like Topics and FLEDGE. Topics is an interest-based ad targeting system that would replace the much-criticized interest-based FLoC advertising standard. FLEDGE, on the other hand, is what Google proposes to be a system for remarketing and custom audiences without individual-level data tracking.
Going forward, Google says that Chrome users will also be able to test a few Privacy Sandbox settings and controls within Chrome. These settings will allow users to control and manage ad interests from a dedicated section. They will also be able to turn off the trial entirely.
The company also mentioned that the Privacy Sandbox proposals have already received positive feedback from early testers. Hence, Google is now rolling out more Privacy Sandbox features for testing to expand the ecosystem. Plus, the company also noted that it will work with global regulatory authorities like UK’s Competition and Markets Authority to make its Privacy Sandbox proposals available to advertisers and users soon.
So, if you are interested in joining the trials or learning more about the APIs, you can check out Google’s in-depth developer guide on the Google Developers forum. Also, let us know your thoughts on the upcoming Privacy Sandbox features in Chrome in the comments below.
