Jesse Goranson’s Post

I'm excited to share some great news. The startup I joined less than 2 years ago, Anonym, has been acquired by Mozilla! I couldn’t be more excited to join Mozilla and work with the amazing teams there. Like Anonym, Mozilla believes that we need a free and open internet supported by digital advertising, and that digital advertising doesn’t need to compromise people’s privacy. You can learn more about the acquisition by reading Mozilla's blog post (https://lnkd.in/eVkbmzkb) and the AdExchanger article (https://lnkd.in/euckaKPR).

I'm old enough to remember the days when Silicon Valley tech companies were exciting and innovative, and not just sad and dumb. Ad-supported business models just suck and are inherently user-hostile, how pathetic is it that a company with the size and influence of Google is reduced to this: "We've covered this already. But we haven't talked about the other side of the equation: Ad block rules can't be updated quickly anymore. Today, ad blockers and privacy apps can ship filter list updates themselves, often using giant open-source community lists. Manifest V3 will stop this by limiting what Google describes "remotely hosted code." All updates, even to benign things like a filtering list, will need to happen through full extension updates through the Chrome Web Store. They will all be subject to Chrome Web Store reviews process, and that comes with a significant time delay."

A really good point by Arielle Garcia in this story (read the whole thing) "Privacy-enhancing tech doesn’t make creepy and disruptive ads less creepy or disruptive in the eyes of the average user." Research presented at PrivacyCon says that "perceived privacy violations" for on-device systems that don't identify you individually are about the same as for conventional cookie-based tracking https://lnkd.in/gqA-bb5g That research is consistent with my experience answering end user questions about this stuff. People seem to be just as interested in turning off the new "privacy-preserving" ad features as the old-fashioned cookies—sometimes more. What I think is going on here is that, true, the new features don't identify you as an individual, but they still do some of the problem parts of "creepy" ads. A "privacy-preserving" ad system can still: * match scammers to likely victims * classify people into groups to enable price discrimination and other forms of discrimination

Advertising | Mozilla has acquired Anonym, a trailblazer in privacy-preserving digital #advertising. This strategic acquisition enables #Mozilla to help raise the bar for the advertising industry by ensuring user #privacy while delivering effective advertising solutions. The online advertising industry is undergoing a significant transformation. With growing consumer concerns and increasing scrutiny from regulators, it’s evident that current data practices are excessive and unsustainable. We are at the forefront of a pivotal shift in how privacy and advertising coexist, reshaping the digital landscape for advertisers, platforms, and consumers. Amidst this moment of change, Anonym stands out for its unique privacy-preserving technology. By securely combining encrypted data sets from platforms and advertisers, Anonym enables scalable, privacy-safe measurement and optimization of advertiser campaigns, thereby leading a shift toward a more sustainable advertising ecosystem.  Here’s how it works: ✅ Secure Environment: Data sets are matched in a highly secure environment, ensuring advertisers, publishers, and Anonym don’t access any user level data. ✅ Anonymized Analytics: The process results in anonymized insights and models, helping advertisers measure and improve campaign performance while safeguarding consumer privacy. ✅ Differential Privacy Algorithms: These algorithms add “noise” to the data, protecting it from being traced back to individual users. #Anonym was founded in 2022 by former Meta executives Brad Smallwood and Graham Mudd. The company was backed by Griffin Gaming Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Heracles Capital as well as a number of strategic individual investors.

https://lnkd.in/eHcxfxtH? Google is limiting the ability of ad blocking extensions to continuously update their blocklists. One classic piece of tech business wisdom is that it's dangerous to build a product that's entirely dependent on someone else's platform. The more extreme amendment might be: it's an especially bad idea to build a product that blocks ads and is dependent on a platform controlled by a company that makes all of its money from ads.

New: Firefox users have reported an "artificial" 5-second delay when they try to load YouTube videos that is magically fixed if they use Chrome, which has been going viral in a few different places. I asked Google what is going on. They 1) Didn't deny the artificial wait time is happening 2) Said it's part of its war on ad blockers, not targeted at Firefox Mozilla also told me no indication this is targeted at Firefox This explanation, I think, is actually crazier. Google is introducing quality of life problems to adblock users without telling them why their experience is getting worse. I think this is actually the bigger risk associated with YT's anti adblock campaign. Google is tinkering with things constantly, and rolling out different detection methods and making user experience worse in a haphazard way. People rightly then have no idea what's going on or why this has happened. This throttling story was on top of HackerNews, top of r/technology, top of r/youtube, top of r/firefox. People are very mad, and it's a result of constant tinkering that affects some people but not others. https://lnkd.in/g_KNYcE8

Two weeks into Google's phase-out of third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome traffic, early results reveal a 30% drop in CPMs for cookieless audiences. While better than Safari's 60% drop, it's too early to draw definitive conclusions. Key insights: - The programmatic ecosystem still favors Chrome's cookied traffic. - Privacy Sandbox APIs need further refinement. - Adoption of alternative IDs shows promise but needs broader implementation. Given the limited testing, many will look to analysts for answers, but the true impact remains uncertain. The industry must focus on comprehensive end-to-end testing to refine these early findings and understand long-term effects. #gtm #PrivacySandbox #DigitalMarketing #CPM #ThirdPartyCookies

In an era where scams are not just lurking in dark corners but are parading in broad daylight, the tech giant is making a stand. You can read more about it here —> https://lnkd.in/d5dzUtg2 And to other tech companies out there, it's your move now. Will you follow suit and prioritise user safety? So, what are your thoughts on Google's new policy? Let's discuss below! 👇

Mozilla Acquires Ad Metrics Firm Anonym: Mozilla has acquired ad metrics firm Anonym in a move to "support user privacy" while delivering effective online advertising. Anonym, founded by former Meta executives in 2022, helps advertisers and ad networks measure the performance of online ads while preserving user privacy. The acquisition comes amid growing consumer concerns and regulatory scrutiny over current data practices in the advertising industry. Mozilla CEO Laura Chambers sees this as a pivotal shift in the coexistence of privacy and advertising. Mozilla maintains that advertising is the underlying business model of the web, but it can be reformed to minimize societal harms. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Mozilla Acquires Ad Metrics Firm Anonym: Mozilla has acquired ad metrics firm Anonym in a move to "support user privacy" while delivering effective online advertising. Anonym, founded by former Meta executives in 2022, helps advertisers and ad networks measure the performance of online ads while preserving user privacy. The acquisition comes amid growing consumer concerns and regulatory scrutiny over current data practices in the advertising industry. Mozilla CEO Laura Chambers sees this as a pivotal shift in the coexistence of privacy and advertising. Mozilla maintains that advertising is the underlying business model of the web, but it can be reformed to minimize societal harms. Read more of this story at Slashdot.