Apple has received a lot of criticism from Advertisers following the new measures that it has undertaken to block cookies on it’s the new version of its Safari Browser.
A group of marketing and digital advertising organizations have expressed their disappointment in the company for its recent user privacy measures on Mac. Now the advertisers are worried that Apple is taking more stringent measures to curb ad-tracking through cookies on the desktop and mobile versions of its Safari browser. The advertisers claim that the measures could wipe out a significant part of the ad industry.
Apple announced during its WWDC in June that it would introduce a new feature called Intelligent Tracking Prevention that would be available in Safari on Macs and iPhones. The feature uses machine learning to pinpoint tracking behavior on the Safari browser. It then imposes a 24-hour limit on those ad-tracking tools. The company stated during this year’s WWDC that the feature was not about blocking ads but rather making sure that user privacy is protected.
Apple introduced the new feature as part of its commitment towards upholding user privacy. However, it seems that Intelligent Tracking Prevention seems to have rubbed advertisers the wrong way. Six major advertising trade groups wrote an open letter expressing their grievances against the company for the ad-tracking feature on Safari.
“Blocking cookies in this manner will drive a wedge between brands and their customers, and it will make advertising more generic and less timely and useful. Put simply, machine-driven cookie choices do not represent user choice; they represent browser-manufacturer choice,” stated the advertisers in the letter.
The letter argues that users should be the ones to make the decision of whether or not they want to be tracked through browser cookies. The ad industry has experienced massive growth that has mainly been fueled by Google and Facebook. Apple’s move with the Intelligent Tracking Prevention feature presents itself as a huge threat to this industry. Ad blocking features for other browsers are rapidly coming up so that users can opt to improve their online privacy if they wish to do so. This is because advertisers have a tendency of taking things too far with intrusive ads.
