FLoC and the Future of User Privacy in Online Advertising

In January 2021, Google announced its FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) technology that aims to replace third-party cookies, which have been the backbone of online advertising for years. This new privacy-first technology has sparked a lot of discussion about its impact on user privacy, online advertising, and the future of the internet.

What is FLoC?

FLoC is a new way of targeting users with ads that Google has proposed as a replacement for third-party cookies. FLoC collects data about a user’s browsing history, interests, and demographics, and then groups them with other users who share similar interests and behaviour. This group is called a cohort.

Advertisers will then be able to target ads to these cohorts through Google’s advertising platform. The idea is that FLoC will allow advertisers to target users with ads while preserving user privacy.

How does FLoC work?

FLoC works in the following way:

1. Google Chrome collects a user’s browsing history to build a user’s interest profile.
2. The user’s data is processed on their device using machine learning algorithms to group them with other similar users.
3. The user’s cohort ID is then shared with Google’s advertising platform.
4. Advertisers can then target ads to cohorts instead of individual users.

What are the advantages of FLoC?

FLoC has several advantages:

• Privacy: FLoC does not collect any personally identifiable information about users. It instead groups users based on their interests and behaviour. This makes it less invasive than third-party cookies.
• Transparency: Users will be able to see which cohort they are part of and opt-out if they wish. This gives users more control over their data.
• Efficiency: FLoC will be more efficient than cookies as it groups users based on interests, which can lead to more effective ad targeting.

What are the concerns about FLoC?

Despite its advantages, FLoC has also raised concerns:

• Grouping users based on their browsing history can lead to privacy concerns, as advertisers can still infer sensitive information about users.
• Smaller websites that rely on targeted ads may be at a disadvantage if they do not have access to large cohorts. This means that larger advertisers may still have an unfair advantage.
• There is a risk of creating filter bubbles where users only see information that confirms their existing beliefs or interests.

What does the future hold?

FLoC is still in the experimental stage and is being tested in Google Chrome in some regions. Google plans to fully roll out the technology in 2022. However, FLoC is not the only solution being proposed to replace third-party cookies.

Other alternatives include:

• First-party data: Advertisers can collect user data directly from their website and apps, bypassing the need for third-party cookies or FLoC.
• Server-side targeting: Advertisers can target users based on information they have stored on their servers, again bypassing the need for third-party cookies or FLoC.