If you’ve been paying attention of late to some of our eyeo website blogs, LinkedIn posts, or interviews with Rotem Dar, Director of Media Operations at eyeo, then you might have already sensed that we were working on something big in the realm of privacy.
Whether it’s because of legislation, browser and ecosystem restrictions, or user awareness, the web is in dire need of solutions that respond to our growing concern about privacy without neglecting the value exchange that exists between users and advertisers and that allows us to have a free web, filled with all the content we love.
As Rotem Dar himself has said, “This is the beginning of a new age in privacy online; key to this new reality is that targeting simply will not work if users are not involved. There needs to be a solution that guarantees a ‘new deal’ between users and advertisers.” In short, the way the web is set up, with advertisers tracking users and using third-party cookies to gather information to finance the creation of online content is no longer a viable option.
This is because it is, 1. going to be obsolete with said new legislation, and 2. because users are becoming ever more privacy aware and demand changes.
Current solutions have proven limited, like the above-mentioned third-party cookies, which are perceived as too intrusive, or hashed emails, which may appeal to some portion of society but definitely don’t serve as a “one-size-fits-all” model. The current lack of convincing solutions has set the stage for eyeo to continue its mission of maintaining a fair, sustainable web.
That solution is Crumbs. And it’s finally here.
Crumbs is the best free privacy protection available online. It is a browser technology layer providing enhanced privacy protection, which enables users to take control over their online identity while providing advertisers with a data-driven, programmatic ad-serving engine. It will firstly be distributed in the form of a browser extension, available on the Chrome and Firefox stores, and also as part of eyeo’s own Adblock Browser for Android, starting a few weeks from now, in its beta version.
Crumbs elegantly combines privacy control and online targeting and measurement under one umbrella. This gives browsers a framework to support a privacy-focused web ecosystem and offer an easily manageable suite of privacy features to their users, also enabling the advertising industry to address audiences effectively, all while complying with current legal and technical restrictions. It also enables users to have full visual control of how their data can anonymously help them to have a more customized experience with relevant ad input, all while respecting the approved Acceptable Ads Standard already being seen by 200 plus million users.
It is truly a win/win in creating a balanced value exchange between everyone in the online ecosystem.
This is the direction the web is moving and there’s no looking back. That’s why we are happy to be leading the charge forward.
For us at eyeo, the user is a central consideration in everything we do. As is fairness, and the ability to preserve a free web. We look forward to working further with all interested parties. This is a future that we can continue building together.
For more information, please visit Crumbs.org.
