Strava, a fitness-tracking company, faced criticism after its global heatmap unintentionally exposed the locations of sensitive military bases worldwide. The heatmap aggregates and anonymizes public data from users who share their exercise routes, but in remote areas, this data can reveal concentrations of military personnel. Strave included a total 1 billion activities from all Strava data through September 2017. They claim to have a global heatmap that is the largest, richest, and most beautiful dataset of its kind....

I’m excited to present the Cookie series—a collection of everything you need to know about internet Cookies. This Cookie series is a one-stop guide to understanding everything about internet cookies—what they are, how they work, and why they matter. Let’s open and see what’s inside the Cookie Box! technical basics What are Cookies Who collect data via Cookies, and how? Cookie syncing How data is used for ad targeting regulations The rule for cookies GDPR and CCPA: the major regulation landscape China’s stance Industry Trends and Reactions, staring from July 2024 market landscape The Value of Cookies AdTech Landscape Demand-Side Platforms Market size and market shares of Ad-Tech industry the key when buying ads — targeting Data brokers Google Gossip Surprising News: Google stopped decaprecating Cookies the Cookies Confusion and the Antitrust Avalanche extras supplementary materials...

One important rule for Cookies is that, a Cookie stored locally on a user’s computer can only be accessed by whoever placed that Cookie. Websites thus have their own distinct user-unique identifications. Sometimes though, websites want to mutually “align” that the person they’re recommending ads to, is the same one. More precisely: Cookie syncing works when two ad platforms share and match the information they’ve gathered about the same user in their separate databases....

Google plays a central role in advertising. The story unfolds in the following three aspects: just what it is that makes Google so prominant and omnipresently annoying? First, Google itself generates more than 75% of its revenue from online advertising in 2023—by delivering both performance and brand advertising that appears on Google Search & other properties, YouTube, and Google Network partners’ properties (“Google Network properties”). Other main income: cloud, subscriptions, platforms (mainly Google Play), and devices(i....

China’s privay landscape China’s privacy landscape presents stark contrasts with the U.S. In the U.S., users enjoy a measure of anonymity, often completing online purchases without even logging in. In contrast, China mandates the registration of phone numbers for almost any online service, driven by legal requirements and platforms’ strategies to build robust first-party databases. While the U.S. retains a relatively decentralized approach to privacy, where data brokers and advertisers freely exchange third-party data, China has erected massive digital “walled gardens....

Third-party cookies play a pivotal role in constructing comprehensive user profiles, allowing data collectors to segment consumers for targeted advertising. By focusing ads on specific segments rather than the general population, the relevance—and consequently, the value—of each advertisement significantly increases. Advertisement sellers, such as demand-side platforms linking to the ad-exchange marketplace, and ad networks (that links ad supply and demand directly) like Google Ads, thrive on this model. Their business hinges on offering advanced targeting technologies that leverage both user privacy data and broad access to ad markets....

Privacy laws worldwide require companies to obtain a certain degree of consent from users before collecting and using their private data. Common examples include a cookie pop-up or a privacy notice. an example for cookie consent—we always read them thoroughly, right? Major regulations, known as privacy laws, include the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). These laws specify the legal requirements for websites to inform users about data use and their rights....

Data (e.g. data sets, data streams and data services) are collected and sold by data brokers, via data exchange platforms (the marketplace). Data Commerce Cloud (a ‘data monetization’ platform for data suppliers) listed a directory of data marketplaces. A data marketplace can be operated by companies (e.g. professional data marketplace business), government agencies (e.g. Shanghai data exchange), or third-party providers (Amazon and Google). The global market for data is valued USD 968 million in 2022....

link to the pdf version of pictures

Consider a scenario where a user visits a publisher’s website to read an article. If the publisher has sold its ad-display space to Google, Google will then access the user’s 3rd-party cookies to retrieve the user’s UID (Unique Identifier). This allows Google to match the user with its online database, analyzing the user’s preferences and other data collected from previous website visits. Using this private information, Google can then align the user with advertisers who are targeting specific user segments....