Discover how the Privacy Sandbox protects user privacy online and provides tools for companies and developers to build thriving digital businesses. Note: The FLEDGE API, as of April 2023, is now referred to as the “Protected Audience API.”

Introduction

Third-party cookies and mobile identifiers have long powered key advertising use cases, allowing brands to track users across sites and apps, target specific audiences, and measure the impact of advertising. However, user expectations around privacy have changed. People now demand more control and transparency over their data usage. When consumers trust a brand, they are more likely to engage with it, offering an opportunity for sustainable growth.

New browser and operating system limitations, alongside increasing global privacy regulations, necessitate new solutions that balance business objectives with privacy. This is where the Privacy Sandbox comes into play.

Privacy Sandbox Technologies

The Privacy Sandbox introduces new technologies to support key advertising use cases, such as:

• Interest-Based Advertising: Utilizes inferred interests from previously visited sites via the Topics API.
• Re-engaging Audiences: Achieved through the Protected Audience API (formerly FLEDGE).
• Performance Measurement: Managed with the Attribution Reporting API.

Topics API

The Topics API enables interest-based advertising by storing the user’s interests on their device, rather than on external servers. Here’s how it works:

• On the Web: The browser infers topics based on the user’s recent browsing history on participating sites, storing these interests locally. Each week, the browser calculates the user’s top five topics. When a site calls the Topics API, the browser shares up to three of the top topics from the past three weeks.
• On Android: The mechanism is similar, with apps being associated with topics. The user’s top topics are shared when requested, ensuring privacy by not matching topics across different sites or apps.

Users can see, remove, or disable Topics if they wish.

Protected Audience API (formerly FLEDGE)

The Protected Audience API facilitates remarketing by re-engaging users based on their actions on a website or app, without tracking their browsing history across sites. Here’s how it works:

• When a user visits an advertiser’s site, the site requests the browser or device to add the user to a custom list.
• Later, when the user visits a site with eligible ad inventory, an on-device auction determines which ad to show.
• The membership of the remarketing list is stored locally, ensuring privacy by preventing external servers from learning about user interests.

Attribution Reporting API

The Attribution Reporting API allows marketers to measure campaign performance without relying on third-party cookies, balancing consumer privacy with essential advertiser requirements. It provides event-level and aggregate-level reporting, ensuring detailed performance insights while protecting user privacy.

• When a user interacts with an ad, their browser logs the ad source.
• Upon conversion, the site alerts the browser, which matches the conversion to the initial ad and schedules a report.
• Reports are generated in aggregate form to prevent tracking of specific users.

Implementing Privacy Sandbox Solutions

For clients interested in integrating these privacy-centric solutions, start with the Privacy Sandbox website to evaluate how these technologies can be incorporated into their products. Google Ads and Display & Video 360 teams, along with other ad tech companies, are developing these technologies to facilitate a smooth transition.

Key Takeaways

• The Privacy Sandbox supports interest-based advertising, re-engaging audiences, and performance measurement.
• Topics API stores user interests locally, enhancing privacy while enabling targeted advertising.
• Protected Audience API (FLEDGE) supports remarketing based on user actions without tracking their browsing history.
• Attribution Reporting API balances detailed performance measurement with consumer privacy.

For more information and resources, visit the Privacy Sandbox website, Chrome Developer Site, and Android Developer Site.

Resources

To learn more about this topic, select the following links.

• Check out the digital marketing playbook for driving privacy and performance.
• Ready to dive into the Privacy Sandbox for Chrome, just click here.
• If you’re a mobile developer, you can use the Privacy Sandbox for Android.
• Looking to dive deeper into Topics? Check out this article on the developer guide.
• You can find more information on the Attribution Reporting API on the Chrome Developer website here.
• Jump directly to the Topics taxonomy here.
• Check out this Think with Google article on the Privacy Sandbox initiative and how it can protect the key ads use cases businesses need to grow.
• Watch our advertiser privacy Q&A video series, where – in 5 minutes or less – Chetna Bindra, Group Product Manager of user trust and privacy, introduces you to the Privacy Sandbox by answering questions we hear most often.
• Check out our new one-sheeter of the key privacy-safe solutions that you can activate today.

The following are the questions from this article:

• Q: Which of the following describes FLEDGE most accurately?
• Q: Which of the following are three use cases for the Privacy Sandbox?
• Q: What does the Chrome and Android Privacy Sandbox aim to achieve?