Yahoo has scrapped its commitment to Do Not Track (DNT), citing poor take-up of the industry standard and a desire to make users’ web experience more personal.
The move means that advertisers can now track users online behaviour on Yahoo for retargeted behavioural advertising, even if they have opted out of being tracked in the privacy settings.
DNT has proved highly divisive within online giants. Both Microsoft and Mozilla’s most recent web brower releases come with the service already turned on.
Both ignored pleas by many of the world’s top advertising networks – including WPP and Publicis – to change their DNT settings. Microsoft and Mozilla users now have to physically turn DNT off, potentially wreaking havoc with the multi-billion pound behavioural ads market.
In a blog Yahoo said: “We work hard to provide our users with a highly personalised experience. We keep people connected to what matters most to them, across devices and around the world. We fundamentally believe the best web is a personalised one.
“As of today, web browser Do Not Track settings will no longer be enabled on Yahoo. As the first major tech company to implement Do Not Track, we’ve been at the heart of conversations surrounding how to develop the most user-friendly standard. However, we have yet to see a single standard emerge that is effective, easy to use and has been adopted by the broader tech industry.”
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Are you turned on? Yahoo axes do not track service http://t.co/CQ9s6Vr34x