On August 4, Firefox rolled out Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) 2.0 in an effort to block a technique called redirect tracking. The new release can create problems for webmasters who work with affiliate networks and use cookies and redirect links for click tracking.
In this article, we are figuring out why browsers are moving away from redirect tracking.
(To protect users and their data, of course.)
Being a smaller team than Chrome, Mozilla can develop and implement new solutions in a shorter period of time and is not dependent on advertisers and other businesses engaged in online money-making. Thanks to this approach, Mozilla has recently reduced its workforce by about 250 people and decided to focus on product and services rather than research.
Google sometimes follows suit Mozilla’s initiatives, albeit belatedly, as was the case with abusive push notifications.
When it comes to data security and tracking, Chrome took a simple yet radical approach and totally banned third-party cookies. At the same time, Google has to meet the needs of advertisers. After all, the lion’s share of the search engine’s revenue comes from online advertising, and if performance metrics get increasingly difficult to track and measure, Google will lose much of its profit. This is why the Internet giant will most likely come up with new tracking solutions.
For instance, it can introduce a new way to employ data collected from Google’s services, such as YouTube, Gmail, etc. Or develop a new tracking technique that does not rely on annoying redirects and cookies.
And what about Apple’s Safari? Well, Google is still paying Apple a lot of money to be the default search engine on Apple devices, and so it is Google who will have the upper hand as far as these matters are concerned.
So, what is the future of tracking?
To avoid guesswork, we reached out to the Binom Tracker team for answers.
Advanced tracking techniques that allow you to avoid using intermediate redirect links have long been available to the affiliate community. We introduced a JavaScript tracking pixel to Binom 4 years ago because this method enables you to decrease page load time and move away from redirect tracking that is prohibited by many ad networks. And this is only one of the three techniques that we have.
What we shouldn’t forget is that tracking will never stop being relevant. This means that tracking solutions are here to stay, and it goes without saying that the tracking technology is always one step ahead.
Moreover, tech companies driving change in the Internet industry rely heavily on their ad revenue. So, it is not in their best interest to hamper the development of tracking technologies.
Dmitry, Head of Technical Support
Will redirect tracking be goon soon? The likely answer is yes.
Will there be new tracking solutions that account for data security and user privacy requirements and at the same time allow advertisers to analyze user data and effectively optimize their ads?
Well, they are already available.
If you want to reach new GEOs and audiences, maybe it is all waiting for you on Telegram? We’ve prepared some material about Telegram audiences. What are the messenger’s users like this year? How old they are, what they do, and what they are interested in!
