Apple introduced a pop-up window for iPhones in April that asks people for their permission to be tracked by different apps. Google recently outlined plans to disable a tracking technology in its Chrome web browser. And Facebook said last month that hundreds of its engineers were working on a new method of showing ads without relying on people’s personal data.今年4月，苹果公司在iPhone上推出了一个弹出窗口，请求用户允许被不同的应用程序跟踪。谷歌最近概述了在其Chrome网络浏览器中禁用跟踪技术的计划。Facebook上个月表示，数百名工程师正在研究一种不依赖用户个人数据显示广告的新方法。The developments may seem like technical tinkering, but they were connected to something bigger: an intensifying battle over the future of the Internet. The struggle has entangled tech titans, upended Madison Avenue and disrupted small businesses. And it heralds a profound shift in how people’s personal information may be used online, with sweeping implications for the ways that businesses make money digitally. At the center of the tussle is what has been the Internet’s lifeblood: advertising.这些优化可能看起来像是技术上的修修补补，但它们与一个更大的事情有关：一场关于互联网未来的激烈战斗。这场斗争纠缠着科技巨头，颠覆了美国广告业，扰乱了小企业。它还预示着人们在网上使用个人信息的方式将发生深远的变化，对企业数字化赚钱的方式将产生广泛的影响。这场争斗的中心是互联网的命脉：广告。More than 20 years ago, the Internet drove an upheaval in the advertising industry. It eviscerated newspapers and magazines that had relied on selling classified and print ads, and threatened to dethrone television advertising as the prime way for marketers to reach large audiences. Instead, brands splashed their ads across websites, with their promotions often tailored to people’s specific interests. Those digital ads powered the growth of Facebook, Google and Twitter, which offered their search and social networking services to people without charge.20多年前，互联网推动了广告业的剧变。它彻底摧毁了依赖于销售分类广告和平面广告的报纸和杂志，并威胁到电视广告作为营销人员接触大量受众的主要方式的地位。取而代之的是，各大品牌在网站上大肆投放广告，他们的促销往往是针对人们的特定兴趣量身定制的。这些数字广告推动了Facebook、谷歌和Twitter的增长，这些公司免费向人们提供搜索和社交网络服务。本文节选自：The New York Times（纽约时报）
发布时间：2021.09.17
作者：Brian X. Chen
原文标题：The Battle for Digital Privacy Is Reshaping the Internet
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