In email to developers, Google says it will soon cut off access to “Advertising IDs” when Android users opt out, instead showing developers a “string of zeros”
Google wants almost all apps to be free, monetized by ad ecosystem it dominates, whereas Apple would prefer apps drop ads and make customers pay, with apple taking a cut. Two visions of the future web. Lora Kolodny / @lorakolodny : following apple's lead? https://twitter.com/... Alex Bauer / @alexdbauer : @PatrickMcGee_ @FT Great write-up, but this announcement is getting considerably more attention than it deserves. What Google has done here just brings Android to parity with what LAT offered on iOS *before* the whole ATT shift. Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : A great deal of confusion surrounds Google's announcement that it will “zero” out the GAID on Android if a user opts out of personalized ads. This is *NOT* an ATT equivalent. This disables GAID access for apps with the existing device-level setting (1/X) Red Russak / @redrussak : It was only a matter of time! Very excited for the future of “opt-in” first party data. Big shift for brands to get smarter about how they convince customers to submit their data. https://thebigtech.substack.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
Google’s move extends its earlier Chrome anti-fingerprinting proposal into Android’s app ecosystem: users’ opt-outs now determine whether developers receive a usable advertising identifier. Related coverage had already documented Google’s assessment that Apple’s IDFA changes would reduce app-install measurement and affect some ad bidding.
The immediate policy is narrower than Apple’s ATT shift, but it establishes an Android opt-out path before Google’s later Privacy Sandbox plan for Android sought a less disruptive transition for advertisers and developers.
First-order effects
- Android developers and ad-tech partners receive zeros rather than an Advertising ID for opted-out users, removing a device-level signal from campaigns aimed at that audience.
- Google’s advertising ecosystem must handle a larger class of Android traffic without a usable identifier when users elect the privacy control.
Second-order effects
- Advertisers and app marketers must adapt install measurement and bidding for opted-out Android users, the same pressure Google had identified around Apple’s IDFA privacy changes.
- Developers dependent on identifier-based ad monetization face greater incentive to use measurement and targeting methods that do not rely on the Advertising ID.
Third-order effects
- Google’s staged approach points toward mobile advertising systems in which platform-controlled privacy settings, rather than developer access to device IDs, set the boundaries for measurement and targeting.
- As Android and Apple each restrict identifier access, the competitive advantage shifts toward platforms that can offer privacy-preserving ad infrastructure while retaining developer participation.
The trend: Mobile platforms are moving ad measurement away from developer-accessible device identifiers and toward platform-governed privacy frameworks.