“Enhanced” privacy, cryptocurrencies and web 3.0: this is Google's 2022 strategy

BigG launches “Topics” , a new Sandbox proposal for interest-based advertising that keeps search data “in time”. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki announces its intention to test virtual currencies: "We will be the next generation of commerce"

25 Jan 2022 F. Me.

Stronger privacy, cryptocurrency test assists Youtube creators. These will be the pillars of Google's strategy in 2022. On the privacy front, BigG has announced Topics, a new Privacy Sandbox proposal for interest-based advertising. Thanks to Topics, the browser identifies some topics (in English precisely topics), such as "Fitness" or "Travel", which represent the main interests that emerged during the navigation of the last week, based on the chronology. Topics are only kept for three weeks, after which they are automatically removed. This process takes place entirely on the device used and without involving external servers, including those of Google. "When a person visits a site that uses Topics, Topics will share only three topics with the site and its advertising partners, one for each of the previous three weeks - explains Vinay Goel, Product Director, Privacy Sandbox, Chrome - Through this system, browsers they will offer people significant transparency and control over shared data: for Chrome in particular, we are creating controls that allow users to view the topics identified by Topics and remove those that are not of interest, or disable the function completely ". The set of topics was carefully curated so as not to include potentially sensitive categories, such as gender identity or ethnic connotations. Since Topics topics are drawn from browser history, transparency and control over how data is shared will be better and more intuitive than tracking systems such as third-party cookies. And with this list of interest-based topics, businesses that advertise online will have a useful alternative that doesn't involve opaque tracking techniques - such as browser fingerprinting - to continue serving relevant ads. "We will soon be launching a trial version for developers on Chrome, which includes controls for users and allows websites and the advertising industry to try Topics - continues the manager - The final form of controls for users and other technical aspects on the The functioning of the arguments will be decided on the basis of the comments we will receive and what we will learn during this testing phase. Privacy Sandbox is one of the most ambitious and important initiatives we have ever undertaken, and we are deeply grateful for the commitment, suggestions and collaboration of all those who participated. "

The YouTube strategy

Youtube will consider the innovations of Web 3.0 and Non fungible tokens - Nft or, in Italian, digital collectables - for the future of the platform and thus facilitate the business of content creators, effectively opening up to the world of cryptocurrencies. The CEO of the company, Susan Wojcicki, writes in a letter in which he informs about the priorities for 2022: "The expansion of the Youtube ecosystem is always our priority, to help creators to make the most of emerging technologies , including Nft, as we continue to strengthen and improve the experiences of creators and fans on Youtube, ”wrote Wojcicki. "Last year, Youtube channel subscriptions and paid digital products were purchased or renewed over 110 million times," writes Wojcicki, while "the number of channels worldwide with annual earnings exceeding $ 10,000 it has increased by 40% compared to last year ". The company announces that it will still focus on the development of podcasts, while "we are also looking to the longer term future and have closely followed the developments of Web 3.0 as a source of inspiration to continue innovating on Youtube. Last year, in the cryptocurrency sector, non-fungible tokens (NFT) and decentralized autonomous organizations (Dao) highlighted a previously unimaginable opportunity to create stronger contact between creators and their fans. " Focus also on creators. “We are building the YouTube of the future, we will work with lawmakers around the world to speak out for the community,” says Wojcicki. According to studies conducted by Oxford Economic in 2020, cited in the letter, YouTube's creative ecosystem has supported over 800,000 jobs in the US, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Brazil, Australia and the European Union. Wojcicki explains that YouTube will continue to innovate starting with the short video mode Shorts which have reached 5 trillion. views; but also on Music (to date 50 million subscribers to YouTube Music and YouTube Premium and over 4 billion dollars paid to the music industry in the last 12 months); on the Games to give "better visibility of live content". In 2022, the company will also focus on live shopping; on learning products for children and on sustainability "by increasing support for creators who are dedicated to environmental causes". And also to improve the quality of content for children. Regarding the experiment of removing 'dislikes' from creatives' videos, YouTube explains that it has not seen any "significant difference in views". Instead, on the application of community guidelines, he points out that in the third quarter of 2021 out of 10,000 views, 9 to 11 came from infringing content. Down by over 70% since 2017. Finally, regarding the regulatory landscape of the big tech companies, the YouTube CEO explains that he respects them all over the world "but - he adds - we have reservations about new regulations that could have unintended consequences on the community of creators, especially as regards the regulation of legal content ".

GOOGLE ARTICLE