Rachel Factor of Apiary Digital® joins us this episode to discuss Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Rachel has several years of both analytics and marketing experience, and will give us some insight into how Safari’s new Intelligent Tracking Prevention impacts marketing efforts. Learn more about how Intelligent Tracking Prevention works, who is affected, and how your brand can adapt to the growing trend of Internet security.
Full transcript (from transcription service)
Tess Barry: 00:00:02 – 00:00:37
Hello listeners for this episode, I spoke with Rachel Factor of Apiary Digital®, about Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Rachel is a web analytics expert with several years of analytics experience as well as marketing experience. We discuss how marketers and brands can react to changes in data tracking and consumer preference for secure internet browsing.
Hello, I am speaking with Rachel Factor the president analytics and tracking expert from Apiary Digital®. Hello, Rachel. So where are you recording from right now,?
Rachel Factor
I am in Montevideo Uruguay.
Tess Barry: 00:00:39 – 00:00:58
Well, my gosh yeah yeah I did not expect it to be as interesting as it yet and now it’s really interesting, I’m a full time travel. There have been three and a half years and I usually spend about a month in a place and move on and if I, like it, I might say longer I’m in this month and then video Uruguay.
Rachel Factor
00:00:59 – 00:01:47
It’s amazing I’m, so you started your career in marketing and SCO correct. How did you get my my boss and my very first company, like through media SCO for dummies book and I? Read the whole thing and didn’t like it in my working in it so I moved on to add, like shopping channels so and I didn’t really like the ads either, but I just loved the data that came from it. I think they play with that, and you know work with big spreadsheets I became like this excel masters and I realized. There was like a whole industry around just that part of marketing. I was like, oh that’s. What I want to do. The rest is history. It’s amazing: it’s, like you, discover a treasure trove. My gosh, evidently that’s great.
Tess Barry
00:01:47 – 00:02:36
So our topics for today’s episode is intelligent. Tracking prevention. Which I’ve been seeing in the news and sounds really matter of fact, but then, when I read into it, it gets pretty technical. So just to kind of set the stage. Can you explain what I. T., P. or intelligent tracking prevention is and what it’s? What it’s affected is just layman’s terms in layman’s terms that that yeah. I know this is a this is a feature of apple’s newest version of safari safari, eleven that is essentially an AI for privacy within your browser, It makes decisions on certain kinds of.
Rachel Factor
00:02:37 – 00:02:44
Use first party cookies in particular, what is allowed to track you and what you do on the web.
Tess Barry
00:02:46 – 00:03:11
Hey listeners, just a quick jargon, refresher, a cookie or web cookie, is a snippet of data that is added to a user’s web browser when they visit a certain website. This information is stored in the user’s browser for a certain period of time and helps with things such as recording user activity. A first party cookie, is a cookie that is set on the domain by the domain you are currently visiting. A third party. Cookie is a cookie that is owned by any domain other than the domain currently being visited back to the discussion.
Rachel Factor
00:03:12 – 00:03:19
Okay, so apple came up with the product to Lou increased user security and and limit how much.
Tess Barry
00:03:20 – 00:03:22
are tracked when they’re on safari.
Tess Barry
00:03:23 – 00:04:50
Es atlas specifically like cross site tracking, so there’s already a limit on third party cookies in apple’s safari, so it passed versions of safari. This is already taking place. This is a big deal, because this affects first party cookies and for a long time people thought first party cookies for safe. You can’t touch first party cookies, I place them on the site, so you can’t do anything for them and what apple notice and what? What everybody realizes that first party cookies can be used to track users across different websites throughout the web, just like a third party cookie, so the first twenty cookie behaving like a third party cookie, which can imprint on certain privacy standards depending on who you ask? Okay, so they’re they’re they’re closing a loophole in tracking yeah in a way. Absolutely that’s really interesting because it is marketers were reliant on data to know how to get our brand messaging and product to customers in the places where they are and where they’re they’d be interested. That’s you know the whole basis for how we look at our performance and measure it and change it. So what does this intelligent tracking prevention placed on first party cookies mean for being able to continue creating strategies based on data and behavior? Yes, so that’s really. The question.
Tess Barry
00:04:51 – 00:06:43
First of all, you know you should take note that there’s only like five percent of market share on desktop or safari, so like it’s very low and like an even smaller number gonna. Have this new browser course like that number’s going to grow as more people get a new computer or update their browser I’m certain. You know, first and foremost like this is a very small number of people on desktop. It’s a larger issue for people on mobile, because R. has about fifty percent market share on mobile devices So that is a greater concern and the other piece of this is our first party cookies Hey, when they’re placed by a company like Google, for example, date kind of behave differently, so the rule the apple has made for their their safari browser. Is your allow twenty four hours no place to place these first party cookies are and they leave this and because cookies first party cookies are an integral part of like how we are the websites that it’s a seamless experience. You can’t just ban cookies all together, so they are saying that you can place a first party cookie that behaves like a third party tracker and then it it no longer works after twenty four hours. So you get this twenty four hour period of basically wild west and after that it’s gone, but the thing is: if you use a product like Google, most people have some Google product open on their desktop at some point like completely throughout the day right. So you might have your email open, you might have Google analytics, then you might have a website open that uses a log in for from Google so like if you like log into Pinterest or something- and it says log in with your G. email that places another first party cookies, so that twenty four hour window never expires if you’re using.
Tess Barry
00:06:44 – 00:07:23
Big companies, you know products like Google and the same goes for Facebook. It kind of defeats. The. This is that, right, so all of a sudden, you lose the ability to limit the privacy of people who are using Google products I’m. So what has actually happened here is that, instead of limiting the ability of companies to collect data on users across sites, is it the limited. Small companies, the ability to collect data on users across sites and emboldened large companies who continue their collection practices. So, if you’re using any kind of.
Tess Barry
00:07:24 – 00:08:43
Google products to serve ads like nothing’s, going to change for you. You know something like ninety percent of all new ad dollars go to these two companies Google Facebook anyway, so it kind of just solidifies their ownership of this market. Smaller companies, like our role or creo, which have their own network of ad server, they are the big losers here, they will not be able to compete and they they just they don’t have quite the same. dress across the internet that that Google does so. They can’t place first party cookies on browsers within the twenty four hour. Women. The same way they do yeah is that something that apple didn’t anticipate or is that something that they’ve were full well aware was going to happen because Google and Facebook are their competitor residents of science right so I said you know, that’s that’s another good question. I do think in some ways it is a an anticipated consequences consequences. So you know if you want to talk about apple’s incentives here, it’s it’s kind of you know the beginning. I think it was a easy way for them to You know they. They don’t have a bad product, you know, as of all the things apple, has they don’t happen at AB products intended easy way to like.
Tess Barry
00:08:43 – 00:09:55
I hope get their competitors with no cost to them. Well, except it kind of gets rid of all the little guys and strengthens the big guys and the other incentive that apple has, of course, is that there is this. You know seen as this privacy forward company which I think is their goal in all this arm. You know you’ve heard probably heard in the news recently that you know apples refusing to cooperate with law enforcement to open I. phones, and you know they increased their messaging system and and all that stuff is I’m. Part of this greater strategy to be the privacy forward. Company beyond what Google is doing their sake, you know, buy an iPhone. I am backed up by a Chromebook or a you know: an android device because we’re gonna protect your privacy, better then another company- and you know you could make the argument that, with you know these unintended consequences that is still happening. You know I would probably rather well I, don’t know it depends who you are, but I would probably rather have just who will have more information than Google and cranio and admiral and whatever other.
Tess Barry
00:09:56 – 00:10:40
Competitors are out there but I’m, not sure, that’s quite the angle they’re taking, but you know it’s kind of like if you trust Google, to house your data, but not some of these other companies, which might be the case than it does in the end. Protect privacy just a bit better right. It feels at this point on the internet you’re either a person who is completely fully known and tracked, and you get ads that are unbelievably relevant or you’re just on the dark web, and no one knows you exist like it feels like it. Just has to be one extreme or the other, so I can see where this push for privacy is a brand makes sense. You know we hear a lot of stories in the media or just you know with my friends. A lot of my friends ask me.
Tess Barry
00:10:41 – 00:11:00
How is Facebook tracking me right? How did they serve me these ads, and it seems that light as a brand being too relevant seems to have a similar effect to the the uncanny valley or that affect with computer animation of humans that when it gets too realistic, it just gets your reading. Creepy.
Tess Barry
00:11:01 – 00:12:40
So if you get served an ad that feels to pressure and and kind of put off so as a brand like I feel that we need to have this new metric called the creep factor. Something is on the right answers. If your ads are a little too relevant, we don’t want to be too creepy in our ad serving yeah I was gonna, say you know, I think we’re going to start to see a revolution of marketing here where I’m, just like apple’s doing, there’s going to be privacy forward companies are just like we had the green movement a few years ago and well still right, where companies are putting this kind of like social justice put forward where they’re saying we care about the environment, and you know these are the products we have. It that satisfy those needs, and- and in the end it’s just a marketing line right I mean they do have to back it up, but it will be I’m appealing to people. It will be like part of a tagline like we care about your privacy like this. Is how we protect your data You know, we don’t collect this or that on you, and this is how long we say that or and you start to see that on some websites like if you go on I’m certain websites, you Stacey said okay. This is our like: they’ll, be a pop up as soon as you get there. That says like this is a data policy and we keep the keys. You know this. How long are you cooking last four and this, and that and I’m and and those are our all new right and it’s pretty rare to see still but I think we’re going to see an increase of that, because people are starting to wake up to this and and care about it, there’s a lot of things in the news and then, like you said you have this kind of creep factor we’re people just they don’t want that information collected.
Tess Barry
00:12:41 – 00:12:59
Absolutely I’ve gone into Facebook and look through the categories that they’ve assigned to me and it’s I don’t know it’s like hearing. My mom tried. Tell me who I am. It was like. They know me so well, but I was like no, no, no, no, no, but they don’t really know me. Right, you don’t know me yeah, that’s so interesting and.
Tess Barry
00:13:00 – 00:13:48
So, coming back to you know where marketers and were brands who rely on data and more also users who are interested enough notice, creep factors that are interested in our own privacy and we want to keep privacy for our customers as well. So you touched on it. A bit earlier, but what is kind of the immediate future for privacy protection? Are there whispers about other brands coming out with more privacy on their tools or is something that’s going to be changing really rapidly? Do you think, or is it going to be something? That’s kind of slowly evolving and we’ll hear about it. When it comes out, yeah I mean I have. What I would like to happen and what I actually think will happen? I’m.
Tess Barry
00:13:49 – 00:14:32
And, and so I am sure, a lot of people will agree with that too. That I would like to see I think everybody would be better protected consumers and companies. If you know people are just more aware of the data is being collected. Most people just don’t have any clue most consumers on the web and they just they don’t know. What cooking is they don’t know? they don’t know this thing called a browser. You know they don’t know what this information that they’re giving up will result. I will be sold two two companies like they just really don’t have any idea and I. So I do think, like a certain level of literacy around that what you should give up on the internet, what you shouldn’t eat your information blocks. You.
Tess Barry
00:14:33 – 00:15:19
I would be really positive, I think it should be in. You know in the hands of the companies that, like it’s their responsibility, to kind of do the right things with data, so you know make sure that their housing all data in an appropriate and secure fashion. make make the data available to people like it would be so nice if you could just go see every bit of information that every company has on you like some kind of central database or something like that. There was a program for that, which is something that’s happening in Europe right now. You can go to any company and demand your the information that they collect it on you and they have to get it. You need me I’m at that’s, not gonna happen here, Why do you think you know what will happen here is that it will become popular.
Tess Barry
00:15:20 – 00:15:43
As I mentioned earlier, you know have these data these privacy for companies that will market based off of the fact that they care about your privacy. It works really well for apple, like I, know, a lot of people who choose apple products and based off of their their privacy concerns. You know it and rightfully so, and you don’t really hear about any of the large tech companies.
Rachel Factor
00:15:44 – 00:16:33
You know protecting your privacy in the same way, Google’s response to this whole intelligent tracking prevention thing we know for people ask: are you going to make any changes to how your browser, chrome, tracks, information across sites they did not? They did not respond with the similar, with a like kind of changed actually just said that they were going to raise the standards for the kind of ads that that they were going to block on their networks. I’m so like not even close to any kind of protection privacy, because that’s not really in their interests the at their at their base, that’s how they still make their money I. Thank you. I think you still will hear about them. Making small changes to appease people as this becomes more popular, but at and at this point in time like there’s, not a demand for it. Quite yet,.
Rachel Factor
00:16:36 – 00:16:42
Interesting. It’s it’s it’s kind of strange. You know the thing about being as a small brand.
Rachel Factor
00:16:44 – 00:17:12
This is really important because it’s good to understand where our Dicks coming from and wired data might change. You know if your brand and all of a sudden your browser traffic from safari is tanked Sir. Your your ability to track is tanked. So now people can kind of understanding of like why that may be happening as a brand and begin to start thinking moving forward about how the landscape of the internet is going to be changing based on these privacy needs.
Tess Barry
00:17:12 – 00:17:44
And that that’s something that we should all start thinking about. Our customers, yeah and- and you know, I I- do think the everyone will adapt like this. This industry will adapt like this is not gonna, be the end of digital marketing or anything like that. Digital marketing experience internet go around right, so it’s probably not going to be on that level and there there is probably solutions in the works right now or the smaller companies to get out. There adds the same way that Google does so I yeah stay tuned.
Tess Barry
00:17:46 – 00:17:55
Well, great, that was. Super interesting I feel, like I, understand that a lot more now so. Well done.
Tess Barry
00:17:57 – 00:18:08
And will definitely keep in touch about having you back on to discuss a bit more. This is a pretty. Big meaty topics that you know we can definitely drive more yeah I can talk about it all day.
Tess Barry
00:18:11 – 00:18:45
Thank you for joining us on this episode of the hive is alive. If you have any thoughts or experiences with intelligent tracking prevention, reach out to us over email or on social. Thank you for joining us. Please feel free to follow up with your thoughts or questions by emailing us at podcast at digital dot com following to does it if you’re a digital and subscribe to our show. The hive is alive is produced by digital media. Collective editing, help from Holly Hansen produced by critiquing. Her dos test very Keren Amundsen. And we will see you around the water cooler with.
