| Good morning, Marketer, the other shoe just dropped. One remark I recall hearing at the recent IAB leadership conference was that it was “only a matter of time” before Google restricted cross-app tracking on Android just as Apple has already created an opt-in environment for it on the iPhone. So the news should have come as no surprise — and the idea that it’s to be part of a multi-year consultation process sounds typically Google. Who does it hurt? Obviously any platform that increases the value of its audience by being able to observe its behavior outside its own app. We know who that is. Little harm to Google, surely, as it has access to consumer data from across its gigantic digital ecosystem. So is this all for the consumer or a way of disadvantaging a major competitor in the stakes to own the web? One thing’s for sure: Google won’t own up to the latter. Kim Davis
Editorial Director | 