In Ad Network Nightmare, Microsoft Making ‘Do Not Track’ Default for IE 10
Microsoft announced Thursday that the next version of its browser, IE 10, will ship with the controversial “Do Not Track” feature turned on by default, a first among major browsers, creating a potential threat to online advertising giants.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft's call lands at a deliberate moment: the Windows 8 Release Preview went public this week with Internet Explorer 10 built in, after a blog post announcing it slipped out a day early and was pulled. Bundling the browser into the OS release cycle means the Do Not Track default will reach users through Windows upgrades, not voluntary browser downloads — a distribution lever no other major browser maker has used for privacy settings.
The story travelled fast: eight outlets including Engadget, ZDNet, DailyTech and the Digits blog picked it up the same day, reflecting how directly it threatens the advertising business model. The framing across coverage is consistent — this is a first among major browsers, and the companies built on behavioral targeting are the ones exposed.
First-order effects
- Every IE 10 user will emit a Do Not Track signal out of the box, forcing ad networks and behavioral-targeting firms to choose between honoring a header sent without explicit consent or visibly ignoring it.
- Microsoft converts privacy posture into competitive leverage against advertising-dependent rivals, with the Windows 8 upgrade path guaranteeing the default's reach far beyond enthusiasts who change settings manually.
Second-order effects
- Rival browser makers face pressure to match the default or defend why theirs stays off, turning Do Not Track from a niche opt-in into table stakes and stripping the ad industry of its ability to dismiss the signal as marginal.
- Because the header now arrives by default, its commercial meaning becomes contested ground: ad platforms have an incentive to push for a narrow industry definition of "tracking" so that honoring the flag costs them as little targeting inventory as possible.
Third-order effects
- If defaults set at the browser-and-OS layer stick, platform vendors become the de facto arbiters of what tracking is permissible — a governance structure the advertising ecosystem cannot veto, and one that pre-empts both legislation and self-regulation bodies.
- A sustained honor-the-default regime would pressure behavioral ad economics toward contextual and first-party targeting, concentrating advantage with platforms that own user logins and content rather than third-party trackers.
The trend: Browser and operating-system vendors are becoming de facto privacy regulators, with default settings doing the work that legislation and industry self-regulation have so far left undone.