Google is planning to retain third-party cookies on its Chrome browser, after abandoning the years-delayed implementation of its previous decision to eliminate tiny packets of information or code that tracks users on the internet.
Instead of eliminating third-party cookies, the Google browser will now offer users the option to either turn cookies ‘on’ or ‘off’ through a ‘one-time prompt’. The choice can later be ‘adjusted’ at any time
The decision is a U-turn from Google’s previous commitment to keep user details private, which caused concern globally among marketers and advertisers – the search engine’s largest source of income – who said that the move to eliminate third-party cookies would affect ad-buying strategies, prevent personalised campaigns, trim targeted advertising, impair attribution models, and reduce cross-site tracking.
On the flipside, the move towards a cookie-less world was also heralded as a game-changer in the brand-building and marketing world as it would necessitate greater investment – of time, effort, and money – towards building direct relationships between brands and their consumers.
Third-party cookies refer to tiny packets of information or code that are used by websites and advertisers to identify individuals on the internet, understand their browsing habits, and track them on the world wide web. Potentially, these cookies can also be used for surveillance.
A cookie-less world would also increase the importance of first-party data – which comes directly from user interactions with brands, enhance trust and transparency with consumers, level the playing field for companies who had advanced capabilities enabled by third-party cookies, and could create more holistic alternatives such as contextual advertising and the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) – which groups users into anonymised ‘cohorts’ based on similar interests, rather than tracking individual behaviour.
However, Google has decided to put the cookies back into the Chrome jar.
“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,” Anthony Chavez, vice president of the Google-backed Privacy Sandbox, wrote in a blog post.
The Privacy Sandbox initiative has been working alongside Google since 2019 on attempting to eliminate third-party cookies by finding the balance between online privacy and supporting digital businesses and advertisers.
“We’re grateful to all the organisations and individuals who have worked with us over the last four years to develop, test and adopt the Privacy Sandbox,” Chavez added in his blog post. “We’re discussing this new path with regulators and will engage with the industry as we roll this out.”
With the ball back in the marketers’ and advertisers’ court, it will be interesting to see how they react to this piece of news in the Middle East.
