After years of pledging to phase out the tiny packets of code that track users across the internet, Google announced on Monday that it plans to keep third-party cookies in its Chrome browser.
The major shift comes after advertisers, the company’s biggest source of revenue, expressed concern that the loss of cookies from the world’s most popular browser would limit its ability to collect information to personalize ads and make it more reliant on Google’s user database.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority was also scrutinising Google’s plans, fearing they could stifle competition in digital advertising.
“Rather than eliminating third-party cookies, we’re introducing a new experience in Chrome that gives users the power to make informed choices that apply across their web browsing and lets them adjust those choices at any time,” said Anthony Chavez, vice president of the Google-backed Privacy Sandbox initiative. Blog Post.
Since 2019, the Alphabet company has been working on the Privacy Sandbox initiative aimed at enhancing online privacy while supporting digital business, with a main goal being the phasing out of third-party cookies.
Cookies are packets of information that allow websites and advertisers to identify individual web surfers and track their browsing habits, but can also be used for unwanted surveillance.
In the European Union, the use of cookies is regulated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which requires publishers to obtain explicit consent from users to store cookies. Major browsers also offer the option to delete cookies on command.
Chavez said Google continues to invest in its Privacy Sandbox program and is working with regulators, including the UK’s CMA and the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, publishers and privacy groups on new approaches.
The announcement sparked mixed reactions.
“Advertisers no longer need to prepare to suddenly abandon third-party cookies,” eMarketer analyst Evelyn Mitchell Wolf said in a statement.
Lena Cohen, a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said cookies could harm consumers, for example by allowing predatory advertising to target vulnerable groups.
“Google’s decision to continue to allow third-party cookies despite other major browsers having blocked them for years is a direct result of the company’s advertising-driven business model,” Cohen said in a statement.
