What the Privacy Battle Upending the Internet Means for You - The New York Times

Good intro to what Apple and Google are doing in the privacy space to fend off regulation. TL:DR; "Get ready for more random ads online, higher prices and subscriptions galore. But your privacy concerns may still not fade."

Apple kicked this off in 2017 with a new Safari preventing the technology used by marketing companies to follow people from site to site... [and] App Tracking Transparency, a pop-up ... gives people the choice to not be tracked across apps and websites."

Google's Privacy Sandbox was announced in 2019. Chrome will "block tracking cookies in 2023... [instead offering] new system for advertisers to target us with ads... [probably] "Federated Learning of Cohorts, or FLOC... grouping people together based on their interests...

As a result:

• "Some companies that relied on digital ads ... such as small online publications, may not survive...
• digital ads are going to look different... less relevant and more random".
• If web developers choose to favour Google over Apple (or vice versa), we'll see the web fragment.
• more privacy may also mean fewer free services and more subscriptions. Rising advertising costs for businesses has already translated into higher prices
• FLOC could also "place vulnerable people into groups where they are disproportionately targeted by exploitative ads"