What does it mean to “improve” Web advertising?
We hear both that advertising data is the Web’s new oil and its original sin; that ad-blocker-blocker-blockers are an escalating arms race; that users don’t want to pay for privacy or aren’t given the opportunity to do so, but are creeped out by tracking.
Amid the hubbub, W3C provides a discussion forum for consideration of features and changes to the Web Platform that could improve the web advertising experience. That means browsers, users, publishers, advertisers, and others in the ecosystem, thinking together about win-win-win scenarios and the technical changes needed to enable them. We offer a place for information-sharing, for example around experimental implementations, common challenges, and best practices.
What might this group propose? We don’t yet know. It depends upon who shows up and where they can reach agreement, because one of W3C’s core values is consensus. As a voluntary standards-setting organization, we work through the persuasion of good ideas and strong use cases. Join the fun! Areas of discussion include:
- Performance and load-time improvements
- Privacy-sensitive measurement
- Consent management beyond cookies
- Ad-display interoperability, including labeling and accessibility
- Vocabulary for talking about these topics among different parts of the ecosystem
I’ll be talking about W3C’s work at NAB Show NY on October 18.
