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A frank appraisal of user benefit #48

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A frank appraisal of user benefit #48

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A frank appraisal of user benefit
martinthomson Mar 14, 2023
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Mar 14, 2023
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25 changes: 25 additions & 0 deletions IPA-End-to-End.md
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Expand Up @@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ This document provides an end-to-end overview of that protocol, focusing primari
* [Definitions](#definitions)
* [Parties Involved](#parties-involved)
* [Other Key Terms](#other-key-terms)
* [User Benefit](#user-benefit)
* [Attribution Measurement](#attribution-measurement)
* [Gathering Events](#gathering-events)
* [Types of Queries](#types-of-queries)
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5. _**Attribution Constraint ID**_: An identifier, specified by the _report collector_, to denote if a given pair of _source_ and _trigger events_ can be attributed (beyond having the same _match key_.)


## User Benefit

This API provides users with no direct benefit.
The purpose of this API is to provide support for measuring advertising.
Consequently, the only advantages to users are indirect.
By enabling cross-site [attribution](#attribution-measurement), the API provides support for a critical advertising use case.

In turn, advertising provides material support for web sites and applications, allowing businesses to provide content that is accessible to many users without requiring individual payment.

Advertising can be an effective way of funding online content and services that does not have to rely on users paying for access.
Supporting advertising in this way can make that access more equitable for users.
Advertising without any means of measuring its effectiveness is far more wasteful than advertising that can be measured.
By providing those that use advertising with a means of measuring its effect, advertising is better able to support sites.

By providing an effective attribution solution in _user agents_, it is no longer necessary to use [tracking](https://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/unsanctioned-tracking/) to perform attribution.
This will allow some advertising businesses to migrate away from tracking, which might benefit affected users.

Of course, we cannot ignore the fact that tracking provides businesses with other benefits, including more flexible attribution.
So there is no expectation that the introduction of a privacy-preserving attribution system will cause all tracking to immediately cease.

There are some risks to users that IPA seeks to minimize through a range of measures, including technical safeguards and policy controls.
The bulk of this document is dedicated to describing how attribution can be performed without revealing personally-identifiable information.


## Attribution Measurement

Attribution measurement is a basic measurement approach used in online digital advertising. For a given conversion event (e.g., a purchase), we aim to attribute that conversion to an ad impression (if one exists.) We generalize into _source events_ (i.e., an ad impression) and _trigger events_ (i.e., a purchase.) _Source events_ happen on a _source website/app_, and _trigger events_ happen on a _trigger website/app_. In order to attribute, a _source event_ must occur before the _trigger event_ and must be from the same individual. In the event that a single query contains _trigger events_ from multiple _trigger websites/apps_, we must also constrain the attribution to only attribute _trigger events_ to _source events_ from relevant campaigns.
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