On iOS, your location isn’t available to Google though. iOS has three per app settings for location permissions for apps - never, while using, and always. Google can only get location data if you are actively using Google Maps.
You're stuck on Google Maps and checkins but that is not the only thing that people use, nor is GPS necessary. Anyone sitting down at a restaurant and using the internet on their device via any app or website will shed location details that Google and other networks can pickup.
How does Google pick up location data on an iOS device using Safari browsing Facebook? Can a site with Google analytics gather the logged in Google account name? The upcoming iOS 12 version of Safari is going to make it even harder to do browser fingerprinting.
Networks have locations. Cell towers, wifi hotspots, corporate routers, etc. Not hard to get a location as long as there is network traffic.
Google analytics does know the same user across sites and devices but this is of course not exposed to the site, it's used by Google for ad targeting.
Browser fingerprinting is not necessary because people log in (to apps and sites) and will never be possible to fully reduce unless Apple can somehow make identical computer chips down to the atom.
Apple's cookie war also only helps Facebook and Google who maintain active 1st party cookies with every user, and meanwhile hurts all the independent networks and publishers who have to get people to keep logging in. This is why it helps to actually have some adtech expertise and industry cooperation instead of creating silly browser rules and turning Safari into the new IE.
Networks have locations. Cell towers, wifi hotspots, corporate routers, etc. Not hard to get a location as long as there is network traffic.
How does that help unless they are sharing the data with Google?
Apple's cookie war also only helps Facebook and Google who maintain active 1st party cookies with every user, and meanwhile hurts all the independent networks and publishers who have to get people to keep logging in. This is why it helps to actually have some adtech expertise and industry cooperation instead of creating silly browser rules and turning Safari into the new IE.
If you haven’t noticed, Apple isn’t trying to help the adtech industry. Apple has a built in framework that allows third parties to submit ad blocking rules into Safari and (some) embedded webviews.
I didn’t know how bad Google’s search results were with most of the page taken over by shopping results on mobile until I started loading results with content blocking turned off to post on this topic.
