[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The world's largest search engine, Google, has decided to stop selling ads based on users' web search histories, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 3rd (local time).
According to the report, starting next year, Google will no longer use technologies that track users' browsing history or identify users when they move between websites.
David Temkin, Google’s product manager, stated, "If digital advertising fails to address concerns about people's privacy and personal information, it threatens the future of a free and open web."
Last year, Google announced that it would gradually phase out the widely used tracking technology called "cookies" from its web browser Chrome by 2022.
Cookies are a type of file stored on a user's computer by the server of the website they visit, containing information such as login records and site settings.
Because of this, targeted advertising using cookies has been supported by companies but has sparked privacy invasion controversies among users, leading to investigations by regulatory authorities.
Instead, Google plans to develop and introduce a new technology called "Privacy Sandbox" for advertisers to use as an ad purchasing tool. Privacy Sandbox analyzes browsing habits on the user's own device and groups users with similar habits together, allowing advertisers to deliver customized ads to groups with similar interests rather than individual users. Google announced plans to begin testing this technology starting in the second quarter of this year.
The WSJ predicted, "This decision by Google, the world's largest search engine, will lead to changes in the digital advertising industry" and "it is expected to provoke backlash from competitors in the digital advertising sector."
Meanwhile, according to digital advertising consulting firm Zauns Media, Google accounted for 52% of the digital advertising market last year, totaling $292 billion (approximately 329 trillion KRW).
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