When the likes of Google and Apple changed their privacy policies to exclude third-party tracking, consumers seemed content and advertisers despaired. Now we know that all of us continue to be profiled albeit only by the very apps and sites we use. Marketers and smaller online companies, however, find it harder to elude the monopoly of Big Tech.
Changes in digital tracking gave big names an advantage
A year after some of the leading tech companies started phasing out third-party tracking, marketers and consumer groups have already seen the changes. The new privacy policies did not eliminate digital tracking, however, they just gave the bigger platforms an advantage for their own advertising and commercial purposes, American media points out.
Apple implemented a feature directly on its iPhones allowing users to opt out from in-app tracking. Google disabled some third-party tracking technology, announcing a full shutout for its Chrome browser by 2023 and gradually for all Android phones. Tech experts were quick to notice this was never intended to protect people’s privacy, yet the move looked like a hugely popular one at the time.
“First-party tracking” is undeniably less invasive, unlike what Facebook (and Google itself) deploy on their platforms by collecting user info throughout our online presence. While third-party tracking allowed companies to link consumer preferences across sites and apps, the new policies simply consolidated the positions of the iOS and Android systems, as well as other digital heavyweights like Amazon, Snap, TikTok and Pinterest.
Prior to these changes, the growing demand for residential proxies was considered to be tied mostly to people’s desire to protect their privacy. However, the latest generation of anonymity tools has given rise to a number of use cases suitable to the needs of tech professionals, digital marketers and small companies with offshore online presence.
Now that minor brands have to go directly to the tech giants for advertising, they don’t have direct access to their databases, and have almost no means of verification for their ads and user experience. This has made digital advertising and platform development much harder and more expensive.
What these changes mean for the Indian market
Digital privacy experts emphasize the fact that web anonymity is not the leading motivation for using proxies and other remote access tools. They are more often deployed in a “proactive” behavior aimed at geo-restricted resources and otherwise walled content. India is a leading market in both personal and business use cases of VPNs and proxies – including OTT catalogs but also, increasingly, for market research.
First-party tracking has forced companies to allocate more of their ad spending to platforms with big bases of registered users. Fortunately for desi companies, the domestic market is not overly dependent on the leading offshore giants. Apple is small in Bharat, mostly present in Tier-1 markets. Chinese apps like TikTok have been banned by the Centre and many young content producers found local alternatives like Roposo or Gaana’s Hotshots and others settled for Instagram Reels.
In the end, some companies find workarounds for their needs, as do users with IP-masking tools. Those who want to grow within a globalized digital ecosystem and access the biggest marketing platforms end up having to deal with the big players like Google or Amazon. While Indian authorities are promoting national digital independence, desi tech businesses might need to gradually build their alternative global marketing, research and consumer placement strategies.
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