Google Topics And How Do They Work?

The protection of user data is a constant concern for huge digital corporations in the twenty-first century. Many digital companies are inventing tools for customers to manage who sees their data and what data they view, thanks to Apple’s decision to allow users to choose who they share their data with

With their new Google Topics initiative, Google is one of the firms at the forefront of this fight to secure user data. What exactly is Google Topics, though? Continue reading to learn the answer to that question, as well as how to use the latest Google Application Programming Interface (API) update!

What are Google topics?

Google Topics is Google’s new cookie tracking plan. Cookies are used by businesses to track the online activities of their target audience in order to better promote them.

Many people were concerned about data privacy because these cookies allow third-party websites to promote to users. As a result of these mounting concerns, Google created Topics to protect users privacy while still allowing advertisers to promote relevant content to people who are interested in what they have to offer.

What happened to FLoC?

You might be wondering what happened to FLoC now that we’ve answered the question, “What is Google Topics?”

FLoC, or Federated Learning of Cohorts, was Google’s earlier cookie monitoring plan. Google focused FLoC on interest-based advertising, which protects users’ identities while allowing advertisers to sell their products or services to relevant “cohorts” with similar interests and attributes.

Due to community input, all development on FLoC was halted. Google developed Topics as a new concept for securing user data based on feedback from testing FLoCs.

Working of Google topics

Your browser is the most important factor in deciding what you see while using Google Topics. As you explore the web, your browser will learn about your interests and keep track of the websites you visit.

Google currently uses a list of 300 subjects to categorise the pages you view. When you visit a new website, Google will classify it according to the most relevant topic.

Google will then provide your interests to relevant advertisers based on all of the user activity data.

Let’s say you complete the following tasks in three weeks:

Week 1: You went to a website for an outdoor camping supplies store, read some blogs about the greatest camping places, and looked at some Pokémon cards.

Week 2: You read blogs on the most valued comic books, went to a cleaning product website, and looked up movie timings on a movie theatre’s website.

Week 3: You searched up the cost of car repair parts, the greatest novels to read, and the newest draught movements of your favourite football club.

Google categorises your browsing habits into subjects every week. In our example, Google might suggest themes like Auto & Vehicles, Books & Literature, and Team Sports during the third week.

When you visit a website, Topics will only show three of your interests to advertising partners. Each week, it selects one interest to share with advertising.

As an example, Google may distribute the topics “Outdoor Recreation” from week 1, “Comics & Animation” from week 2, and “Team Sports” from week 3 based on our example.

Advertisers can then utilise those themes to target adverts to those who are interested in what they have to offer.

FAQ

What is the duration for which Google tracks data?

With the Topics API, Google has a framework in place for tracking and storing data.

Each week, Google’s API updates track subjects of interest. Your browsing history is used to determine these subjects of interest. Google will only hold a topic for three weeks once it has been decided.

After three weeks, Google deletes the subject and starts the process over.

What types of topics are include with the Google API update?

Google employs approximately 300 topics to categorise persons (and counting). These passions include everything from literature to athletics to cuisine. These categories are also broader to provide for more data security – a baseball fan and a football fan will both fall under the “Team Sports” category.

Gender and race are not recognisable issues on Google. The themes are mainly concerned with hobbies and interests.

Need help optimising for the Google API update?

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