Surprise — FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) isn’t a consumer-friendly term.
FLoC is Google’s new cohort-based targeting mechanism developed in response to the loss of third-party cookies. On Wednesday, Google said that it won’t develop or support any alternatives to replace cookies with another user-level identifier, focusing, instead, on FLoC.
With FLoC, thousands of Chrome users are grouped into cohorts based on each individual’s browsing behavior. The browser uses machine learning algorithms to develop cohorts and shapes them by the sites each person visits. This includes site URLs, page content and more. Over time, the browser updates the cohort as each user travels the web and their behavior changes.
All of these behavioral inputs are kept locally, in the user’s browser, and aren’t uploaded elsewhere else. The browser only exposes the total cohort, though each cohort is well distributed to represent thousands of people.
The goal here is privacy, without losing interest-based ad-targeting. Chrome will group people together with similar browsing habits, allowing ad tech companies, advertisers and publishers to observe the habits of large groups instead of the activity of individuals, and target them accordingly.
But FLoC, as a brand, is a difficult sell to consumers, which is why Google is opting to call FLoCs “Web Crowds” in the latest update to Chrome.
DPG Media’s Simon Harris caught the change in Chrome’s consent screens.
As Google seeks to sell FLoC to the public as a privacy-forward initiative that still allows for the delivery of relevant advertising, this change recognizes the fact that FLoC is too technical and insidery. If FLoC seems too technical, it will be difficult to square as privacy-minded.
Web Crowds, however, is a better narrative. Being part of a crowd, especially as COVID-19 has limited group interactions, sounds like fun (note Google’s reference to a concert). It will be easier to market to the public, mainstream media and, perhaps most importantly, regulators.
