“The Internet answers a question I’ve been struggling with for decades, which is: How will the Internet pay?” He said.
The consequences can affect brands that relied on specific ads to get people to buy their products. Initially, it can also hurt tech giants like Facebook, but not for long. In contrast, companies that are no longer able to track people, but still need to advertise, are likely to spend more on larger technology platforms, which continue to have the most consumer data.
David Cohen, chief executive of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a commercial group, said the changes would continue to “attract money and attention to Google, Facebook, Twitter.”
The changes are compounded by opposing views from Google and Apple about how to reschedule ad tracking. Apple wants its customers, who pay a premium for their iPhones, to have the right to completely block tracking. But Google executives have suggested that Apple has turned privacy into a privilege for those who can afford its products.
For many people, this means that the Internet can start to look different depending on the products they use. On Apple devices, ads can only be slightly relevant to a person’s interests, compared to highly web-targeted promotions on Google. Website creators can finally choose sides, so some sites that work well in Google’s browser may not even load in Apple’s browser, said Brendan Eich, founder of Brave, the private web browser.
“It’s going to be a two-internet story,” he said.
Companies that do not follow the changes run the risk of being run over. Increasingly, media publishers and even time-lapse apps charge subscription fees, in the same way that Netflix charges a monthly fee for video streaming. Some e-commerce sites plan to increase product prices to maintain their revenue.
Think of Seven Sisters Scones, a mail order pastry shop in Johns Creek, Ga., That relies on Facebook ads to promote its items. Nate Martin, who runs the bakery’s digital marketing, said that after Apple blocked ad tracking, its digital marketing campaigns on Facebook became less effective. Because Facebook could no longer get so much data about customers who like bakery products, it was harder for the store to find interested buyers online.