Google to replace third-party cookies
Google has said it is rolling out Privacy Sandbox — its tech to replace third-party cookies — to all Chrome users.
According to the firm, this feature is a more privacy-forward one, which tracks topics of interest based on a user’s browsing habits, and then allows advertisers to use the data to show relevant adverts.
According to a report by TechCrunch, the company has been showing a new popup about Privacy Sandbox to users over the last few days.
It stated that users had complained about the pop-up not providing enough information about the cookie replacement tech and how the company would generate topics of interest based on browsing data if you click on ‘Got it’.
The report noted that as a part of the rollout, users would get access to some controls for ads.
It said when they click on ‘Got it,’ the privacy sandbox experience would be enabled by default. Users can then head to Settings> Privacy and Security > Ad Privacy > Ad topics to turn it off. This will stop advertisers from showing users targeted ads based on topics of interest.
The Ad Topics tab also lets users look at the topics generated by Chrome’s system and block any that they deem irrelevant.
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The report read in parts, “Google Chrome is a dominant web browser in the market with more than 60 per cent market share, according to Statcounter. However, it has been the last in line to disable third-party cookies as rivals, such as Safari and Firefox, have been blocking third-party cookies for a while now.
“Chrome’s plan for phasing out cookies has faced several delays as the company wanted to roll out its alternative for targeted ads before blocking third-party cookies. In May, the company said it would turn off third-party cookies for all users by default in the second half of 2024. Google also mentioned at that time it would begin this rollout with one per cent of users in Q1 2024.”
It further stated that the move was a source of concern for advertisers and developers who were worried about the implications of adopting the new solution.
While Google had said its solution would bring an end to fallbacks of third-party cookies, several entities such as the W3C Technical Architecture Group had raised concerns regarding the implementation.
They had said that because of Chromium-only support for the Topics API, sites could block users or limit the experience for folks using other browsers.
A marketing advocacy group, Movement for the Open Web, recently authored a blog accusing Google of gathering a lot of personal data through the Privacy Sandbox.
