Google has announced a change to its user consent policy which will affect website publishers using Google products and services, including Google AdSense, DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange, as well as whose sites or apps have visitors arriving from the European Union. Under the new policy, publishers will have to obtain EU end users’ consent before storing or accessing their data, says Google.

The change, which is in direct response to the EU’s cookie compliance regulations, follows the arrival of the Google-published website called CookieChoices, spotted earlier this month. That site was launched with the intention of helping digital publishers obtain tools and access other resources that will aid in their obligations to obtain user consent, Google noted at the time.

These tools include code that website publishers can use to inform visitors about their cookies, as well as those that can be used to directly obtain consent, like splash screens, notification bars, or one-time, pop-up alerts that can be used on mobile apps.

Says Jason Woloz, Google’s Security & Privacy Program Manager, Display and Video Ads, in a brief announcement posted today, “it has always been Google’s policy to comply with privacy laws, so we’ve agreed to make certain changes affecting our own products and partners using Google products.”

EU regulators have pushed for years for a variety of user protections when it comes to how web users’ data and information is tracked and made available online. One of its more-discussed rulings in recent months is related to the so-called “Right to be forgotten,” which legally requires that search engines like Google process individuals’ requests for the delisting of inaccurate, outdated and irrelevant data.

Meanwhile, the EU has had regulations related to cookie-related data collection for quite some time. But what’s notable is that Google is applying this to its own services, while also challenging publishers to comply with the updated policy by a September 30th, 2015 deadline, according to an email sent out about the change. In addition, this policy will also affect those with iOS or Android applications who will have to show a message to app users upon first launch.

While before, the EU’s cookie policy has been common for those sites based in the EU, Google’s policy change will affect a number of publishers, as any site on the web could potentially have EU-based traffic.

The effectiveness of cookie-related user consent notifications is questionable, however. According to a late 2014 study on the matter, the EU’s cookie-notification policy has cost billions of euros per year in terms of compliance costs for websites, but has offered few benefits to web users. That is to say, the implementations thus far have not changed user behavior, the report found.

Unfortunately, Google can’t offer a consent message that publishers can use, because a website or app’s consent message should say “will largely depend on your own uses of cookies and other information, and the third party services you work with,” says Google. But it does offer pointers on the Cookie Choices website to help publishers get started.

Google’s post also points to other resources beyond Cookie Choices, including a Help Center FAQ which details the answers to questions publishers may have, like which products are impacted, how to tell if a current policy is compliant, how the changes affect mobile websites, and more.

Here, Google also explains that the Article 29 Working Party, an umbrella body that comprises representatives of all EU data protection authorities, requested that changes were made to how site publishers request consent from end users. Google says it understands “these principles will be applied across the industry,” which is why it’s rolling out the change now.

Independent ad network InMobi is touting a new solution for developers to take advantage of gamers’ emotional states to produce high click-through rates on advertisements in their games. Along with tools for including interstitials that look like part of the game experience and ads that give you gameplay bonuses for watching videos, the company’s SDK now includes playable ads powered by TechCrunch Startup Battlefield alum Voxel‘s app virtualization tech.

To better take advantage of the different ad units available, InMobi decided to take a more in-depth look at how ad placement could be informed by gameplay. The company claims that its research shows (PDF) that using these different ads at different points in the gameplay experience can significantly boost engagement by playing off of their emotional state.

For instance, let’s say you’re playing a game like Flappy Bird. You die pretty regularly, which makes you pretty frustrated. Are you going to click on a banner ad that pops up, or will that only upset you more? Apparently 20 to 40 seconds playing something else — the approximate length of demos in InMobi’s playable ads — is a welcome respite when a game is wearing you down. According to InMobi, gamers in this state clicked on its playable ads 275 percent more than traditional banner ad units. 

The following graphic shows which ad unit works best based on what a player is going through:

Back in March, JungleCents co-founders Sameer Mehta and Nadir Hyder sold their startup’s assets to its primary investor, Mark Cuban, and announced a new venture: A lifestyle company called 12Society. The most important lesson the co-founders learned from JungleCents, they said at the time, was that the key to great marketing and high conversion rates is “smart, editorial-driven content.”

Makes sense. Yet, when they announced that San Francisco Giants star pitcher Tim Lincecum was joining 12Society as a co-founder and that other celebrities and star athletes would soon follow, another lesson emerged. The (real) best way to ensure engagement and conversion? Convince big-time influencers to become the voices and brands behind your content. Brands will salivate.

12Society has been in stealth mode since March and has quietly built a star studded roster of co-founders, one that now includes LA Clippers Rookie Of The Year Blake Griffin, actor/comedian Nick Cannon, Tim Lincecum, former New York Giant Michael Strahan, Minnesota Timberwolves All Star Kevin Love, and rapper/actor superstar Nas.

Today, the startup is officially pulling back the curtain, launching an online lifestyle platform and product subscription service that aims to create a better way for brands to engage with the 18- to 35-year-old male demographic and get them talking about and sharing their products.

As to how it’s going to work: 12Society gives subscribers access to the lifestyles of these ballers for $39/month in the form of a box in the mail, containing four to six “premium products from tech, fashion, apparel, and athletics” — all of which have been “hand-picked” by the co-founders, or the “style board” as they’re being called.

Beyond this monthly care package of bro bait, 12Society will be leaning hard on its blog, where the co-founders have agreed to provide an inside and honest look at what “propels, inspires and engages them.”

In the big picture, when it comes to the “box of the month” model, 12Society has plenty of competition in the men’s department. There’s Bespoke Post and the design-focused Quarterly, and umpteen more.

Obviously, 12society has a different tack, but they’re similar in that each is attempting to bring users inspiring items from people they care about. It’s a good idea, and one that works, but, as always, the proof is in the pudding. It’s nice to think that we’ll get a real, honest look inside an athlete’s life, what motivates and inspires them.

But these are busy guys, and the opportunity for fluff is high. If they spend time creating their blog posts, etc., the more time guys like me will follow along and engage. But the 18 to 35-year-old demographic is highly sensitive to shilling. Yes, we secretly want to emulate our heroes, but that doesn’t mean I want to buy the brand of soft drink they like. Most guys (I hope) could give two *bleeps* about that, hence the swing-and-miss nature of 99 percent of modern advertising.

The JungleCents co-founders understand this, as do the co-founders. As long as they understand that by saying that 12society is introducing a new way for brands to gain attraction for fans, that really this is an old model, and that it’s a slippery slope, then 12society is going to be as big as the co-founders backing it.

I mean, collectively, the six co-founders have millions of Twitter followers and Facebook fans. That’s social reach that anyone and everyone would kill to be able to leverage to promote just about everything.

12society may not be an earth shatteringly disruptive model, but I’m still eager to see what the team produces. It will be interesting to watch.

The startup is currently backed by Groupon co-founders (and Lightbank founding partners) Eric Lefkofsky, Brad Keywell and Paul Lee (who is only a co-founder of the latter, by the way) as well as Diego Berdakin, the co-founder of venture-backed social commerce startup, BeachMint.