MyOffrz: Marketing innovation combines targeting and privacy

Cliqz has officially launched MyOffrz after a successful pilot phase. The innovative business model is based on a new concept called browser-based performance marketing which combines addressing individual consumers with concrete purchasing interests and the greatest possible protection of privacy. With this, Cliqz proves that successful marketing on the Internet is also possible without collecting and storing vast amounts of user data.

Companies like Google and Facebook collect as much information as possible about users for marketing purposes and store it in profiles on servers in their data centers. This way, users lose ownership and control of their data that can contain highly sensitive information. Based on this data, advertising providers then display targeted ads to individual users.

MyOffrz’s innovative browser-based performance marketing works completely differently: The storage and processing of data is shifted from the server side to the client side. The MyOffrz software recognizes purchase intentions locally, i.e. on the user’s device. This ensures that the data remains in possession and under full control of the user and their privacy is always protected.

What data does MyOffrz use to identify interests? The MyOffrz technology only has access locally on the device to the visited websites and web searches. This is data accumulated in the browser anyway (prior to MyOffrz) and stored in the history. If the user expressly permits it MyOffrz will also have access to their approximate location. If the user clears the browser history or uninstalls the browser, all data disappears. Since no personally identifiable data is stored or processed on the server side, MyOffrz is GDPR-compliant and also absolutely future-proof with regard to the upcoming ePrivacy regulation.

“Shifting the targeting logic from the server side to the client side is a real paradigm shift. The data remains in the possession and under the control of users yet targeting-based business models are still possible. With our innovation, we have proven that addressing consumers individually and respecting their privacy work together,” says Jean-Paul Schmetz, founder and CEO of Cliqz:

MyOffrz as a proof-of-concept is a clear signal to politicians not to be deceived by those who claim that without the possession of data about users, business on the Internet would not function. Google could, for example, easily offer browser-based performance marketing with Chrome or refrain from storing search entries if they only wanted to.

A test phase with selected pilot customers has proven that MyOffrz is absolutely competitive in terms of performance with conventional offers. As the GDPR strengthens the duopoly between Google and Facebook even more, it is even more important to be able to contribute to more competition with our alternative model.

MyOffrz is an integral part of the Cliqz Browser and browser extensions for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS. Cliqz will use this innovative online marketing model to monetize its free offerings such as the privacy browsers, the quick search engine, and the anti-tracking technologies of the Cliqz and Ghostery brands.