Advertisers Enraged at Microsoft

Advertisers are not very happy with the new announcement that was made by Microsoft earlier on in the week, stating that its popular Internet browser, Internet Explorer, will now have default settings set up so that advertisers cannot track what people are doing on the Internet. Internet Explorer is not the only type of web browser on the Internet that offers this feature so that people cannot be tracked by what they search for and what sites they visit online. However, Internet Explorer is the first web browser to have the Do Not Track feature set up as the default. The other web browsers have the feature but it is up to the Internet users to actually adjust their settings so that the stuff they do on the Internet cannot be tracked.

Online advertisers genuinely work hard on targeting consumers based on the types of browsing history they have. For example, one consumer may have recently used Google to find out about different brands of nail polish. The advertisers’ use that type of browsing history to advertise for products related to what the consumer is interested in, which ultimately helps to increase the consumers’ interest in specific brands and also increase sales as well. While this Do Not Track feature has been made available for quite a while now, the truth is that many people do not even bother to turn the setting on. However, with Internet Explorer setting it as the default, the consumers will not have to worry about adjusting the settings, which is bad news for advertisers who are looking to target consumers based on their Internet habits.

The chief privacy officer at Microsoft, Brendon Lynch, explained the decision, stating that Microsoft believes consumers have the right to control what is and is not known about them. Lynch says that the company wants its users to know that their privacy is respected and protect by the company, which is why they are making this the default setting. Consumers do not have to worry about their online behaviors being shared with third-parties or tracked down. Lynch also says that he and Microsoft understands the importance online advertising but believes that the consumers should still have a right to choose what they want third-parties to know.

The Federal Trade Commission believes that online privacy is generally very important, which is why the Chairman of the FTC, Jon Leibowitz, discussed the possibility of a Do Not Track button several years ago, back in 2010. He also asked different web companies to provide users with an option so that they would not be tracked if they did not want to be. Consumers who use the updated version of Internet Explorer will have their privacy protected.