Privacy has perpetually been a moving target. We often forget that our modern sense of it is relatively new—and hard-won. For most of history, people had little power to shield their lives from prying eyes. But over time, and often in tension with new technologies, our ability to protect personal boundaries has grown. The path isn’t straight, but it bends, gradually, toward greater control and transparency.

Google’s announcement this week is not the end of a more private web. It’s a setback, yes, but also a reminder that progress is rarely linear. Real innovation around privacy demands more than critique—it calls for courage, collaboration, and action. While it may be tempting to view this as in an “us vs. them” or “winners and losers” framework, this is overly simplistic. While some players may see short-term gains, there’s a longer term loss that should serve as an impetus for action. Google may not have completed the objective of reducing tracking, but their move sparked a wave of innovation we welcomed and still believe is necessary. Privacy-enhancing technologies have the potential to reshape how data are shared and trusted online, creating stronger relationships and new economic opportunities. Challenges remain. Addressability is still eroding, and transparency for consumers is far from extant. But we remain committed to building what comes next—not just for advertisers, but for the people they’re trying to reach. 

The future of the web is private. Consumers want this. Regulators and legislators want this. Even members of the advertising industry, including NextRoll, want this. So despite the setback, we should be heartened that on the whole folks are pushing in the right direction. It just looks like it will take a bit longer to reach a more desirable state.

NextRoll is committed to privacy as a principle, not as a particular set of technologies. Privacy Sandbox is one collection of technologies that could make the web more private overall, but there are other techniques and technologies to employ. We remove user identifiers from our BidIQ system, automate data deletion, and follow best practices like data minimization. User consent is a cornerstone of how we evaluate partnerships. And with technologies like data clean rooms, we’re finding smarter, more privacy-conscious ways to collaborate with others in the ecosystem.

NextRoll will continue to participate in standards bodies and fora as an advocate for privacy and an open web, which includes whatever future form Privacy Sandbox takes. There’s a core set of ad tech players who have pushed very hard for years to make a private web a reality. While the Privacy Sandbox technologies are nascent, they are truly valuable and tackle a set of supremely difficult problems. We like hard, meaningful problems. Everyone who contributed to these efforts, particularly Google’s Privacy Sandbox team, should be immensely proud of the technological progress they’ve made.

At NextRoll, we don’t just believe in a more private web—we’re building it. Privacy is baked into our products, our partnerships, and our principles. Everyone deserves a more private web, and we’re committed to making that future a reality.

Andrew is NextRoll's Vice President of Data Science Engineering and leads NextRoll's privacy-forward efforts.