A Lack of Relevancy
I understand the argument for the pushback on the data harvested by the internet and social media companies. There is a lot of bad stuff on the internet and platforms such as TikTok push people towards more extreme content or potential harmful content to keep engagement rates high.
I also think there needs to be better moderation or algorithms to protect youths engaging on these platforms. However, getting rid of cookies or removing device IDs for cross-app tracking on mobile devices will result in a poor user experience.
I know that while scrolling through Instagram or surfing the web I will be served ads. This is the most basic business model to monetize audiences and we are ad tech investors after all in Connatix and DTM. If I must be served ads, I at least want them to be useful and relevant to my interests and needs.
I have already noticed a deterioration in the relevancy of ads that I am served on Instagram resulting from new privacy updates (LINK TO PRIVACY BLOG). I have received ads for baby products, which is probably due to the contextual data of my age, but I do not have a child.
Amazon specifically seems to have zero idea of the products to advertise to me, despite having all my purchase data. Wayfair seems to think I want this weird tent that attaches to my bed for a family of three. The tradeoff to owning your data is a more intrusive ad experience due to a lack of relevance.