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After four years of back and forth, Anthony Chavez of Google said that the company has stopped trying to deprecate cookies and is working on a new approach.
Google will no longer go ahead with its third-party cookie ban that has been four years in the making, instead introducing a new prompt for users to choose how they want to be tracked.
Third-party cookies are used to track the online activity of users. Data collected by these cookies are seminal to the online ad industry, who rely on the data they provide to target ads.
Google first indicated in 2020 its intention to phase out third-party cookies from its flagship Chrome browser by 2022. Since then, the search giant has pushed deadlines multiple times – most recently in April, when it pushed back its plans to phase out third-party cookies until at least early 2025.
It cited challenges stemming from “divergent” feedback from the industry, developers and regulators such as the UK Competition and Markets Authority.
“We recognise this transition requires significant work by many participants and will have an impact on publishers, advertisers and everyone involved in online advertising,” Google vice-president of Privacy Sandbox Anthony Chavez wrote in an announcement yesterday (22 July).
“In light of this, we are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice. Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time. We’re discussing this new path with regulators and will engage with the industry as we roll this out.”
Google has been testing its Privacy Sandbox technologies for years and released a trial of it last year, to let users simulate the long-awaited cookie ban. Separately, it also disabled third-party cookies for 1pc of Chrome users to analyse as a test group.
Privacy concerns
The decision to backtrack on the third-party cookie ban is seen by some as an instance of the company prioritising profits over user privacy. This comes in the context of Chrome rivals Safari and Firefox having blocked third-party cookies by default since 2020.
Lena Cohen, a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argues that third-party cookies are one of the most “pervasive” tracking technologies that enable advertising companies and data brokers to collect and sell information about users’ online activities.
“This can lead to a range of harms, like bad actors buying your sensitive information and predatory ads targeting vulnerable populations,” said Cohen.
“Google’s decision to continue allowing third-party cookies, despite other major browsers blocking them for years, is a direct consequence of their advertising-driven business model. With nearly 80pc of Google’s revenue derived from online advertising, it’s clear why Chrome is putting advertisers’ interests above users’ privacy.”
Cohen said that targeted ads based on people’s online behaviour incentivises all online actors to use tracking technology, such as third-party cookies, to collect “as much of our information as possible”.
“We need robust privacy legislation in the US to ensure that privacy standards aren’t set by advertising companies like Google.”
Meanwhile, Google said it remains committed to providing developers with privacy-preserving alternatives.
“We developed the Privacy Sandbox with the goal of finding innovative solutions that meaningfully improve online privacy while preserving an ad-supported internet that supports a vibrant ecosystem of publishers, connects businesses with customers and offers all of us free access to a wide range of content,” said Chavez.
“We’ll continue to make the Privacy Sandbox APIs available and invest in them to further improve privacy and utility. We also intend to offer additional privacy controls, so we plan to introduce IP Protection into Chrome’s Incognito mode.”
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