Thread · 4 tweets · 16 Aug 2021

The more I think about a reformed architecture for ads on the Web, the less it makes sense for the browser to be running any kind of auction. Auctions and ad selection are complex affairs, they should be carried out by a party with skin in the game. The user isn't getting paid.

Since the user isn't drawing any direct benefit, this isn't the browser's job to handle this. Basic comparisons between two already-selected ads, *maybe*. Anything more involved than that is putting complexity where there is no incentive to get it right.

What's more, the end-to-end principles predicts that if you move complexity into intermediary steps that don't gain from it, you'll get underwhelming implementations that are there just for compliance. The browser is just a piece of infrastructure here, it should stay dumb.

The browser's interest is in protecting the user, notably for privacy. That part is core and on-mission. I would suggest that we evaluate these new web adtech proposals with strong emphasis on whether they put too much intelligence in the browser.