Bernd Nauen, the managing director of the Central Union of German Advertising Companies, criticizes the process of removing cookies by other companies. He explained that this action will not contribute to enhancing data protection and privacy but will rather bolster Google’s dominance in the digital advertising market.
With the exception of Google’s services and other major platforms, users will not be able to see personalized ads due to the removal of third-party cookies, resulting in limited ad visibility.
Nauen added, “Certainly, the solution is not to revert to annoying spam emails, pop-up windows, or banner ads on various topics, which annoy users instead of piquing their interest.”
The Central Union of German Advertising Companies believes that dominant individual platforms should not restrict the scope of advertising and industry freedom. Such decisions should be made by legislative authorities, which have already issued laws to prevent rules set by these platforms at the expense of competition. Therefore, competition protection authorities should take action more than ever before.
Florian Glanzner, speaking on behalf of the Union of Consumer Protection Centers in Germany, criticizes tracking user behaviors across websites and creating profiles for advertising purposes. The issue is not limited to technical aspects like cookies from other companies but extends to designing ads tailored to exploit consumer weaknesses, posing risks to user privacy and data manipulation, and fostering racism and discrimination.
Moreover, according to Glanzner, consumers cannot fully understand the consequences and extent of their consent because the online advertising market is highly complex, and the technologies involved are not transparent or easy to assess. Therefore, German experts always advise against tracking user behaviors online and creating profiles for advertising purposes in general.
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