AMAZON TRACKING CODE

Google says FLoC is intended to protect peopleвЂ™s privacy becauseВ it uses machine learning to group them based on the web pages they have viewed rather than tracking them at the individual level.В Right now, the system is in a pilot phase, assembling data indicating what websites, content and products people are interested in. One technologist who asked not to be named for this story said the distinction is noteworthy because the approach Amazon has implemented for most sites employs the technique recommended by Google, which is therefore вЂњknown to be 100% effective,вЂќ according to the technologist, who said the approach used to block FLoC on Whole Foods pages could be an oversight or a deliberate choice on AmazonвЂ™s part, possibly as a test of some kind.

While other Amazon-owned domains mentioned here that block FLoC do so using GoogleвЂ™s recommended approach involving sending a response header from HTML pages, Whole Foods blocking employs a tactic that sends an opt-out header from Amazon analytics requests. There is a caveat regarding FLoC blocking on Whole Foods pages, however. While one of the technologists saw both of those sites blocking FLoC, another did not, and said AmazonвЂ™s deployment could be evident on different servers in different parts of the country.

AMAZON TRACKING CODE

For example, while earlier in the week and did not include code to block FLoC, by Thursday Digiday saw that those sites did feature code telling GoogleвЂ™s system not to include activities of their visitors to inform cohorts or assign IDs.

With the help of three technologists, Digiday watched last week as Amazon added code to its digital properties to block FLoC from tracking visitors using GoogleвЂ™s Chrome browser. She called AmazonвЂ™s choice to block FLoC on most of its sites another example of the chess moves Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon are making as data privacy pressures force the destruction of the foundation of data tracking across the internet: the third party cookie.

вЂњThis move is in direct correlation with GoogleвЂ™s attempt to provide an alternative to the third-party cookie,вЂќ saidВ Amanda Martin, vp of enterprise partnerships at digital agency Goodway Group. Amazon declined to comment on this story.ДЄsВ GoogleвЂ™s system gathers data about peopleвЂ™s web travels to inform how it categorizesВ them,В AmazonвЂ™s under-the-radar moveВ couldВ not only be a significant blow to GoogleвЂ™s mission to guide the future of digital ad tracking after cookies dieВ - it could give Amazon a leg up in its own efforts to sell advertising across whatвЂ™s left of the open web.

Amazon tracking