If you’ve ever wondered why the ad you saw for sunglasses on your phone suddenly appears again on your laptop, third-party cookies are likely the culprit. Google has been making promises about phasing out these pesky third-party cookies for 4 years, and now, they are finally taking action. This week, about 30 million Chrome browser users will have the notoriously persistent trackers turned off by default. This marks a significant change in online advertising that is causing a huge disruption to the online economy.
Google’s limited cookies phase-out, which it’s calling a “Tracking Protection” test, is the first step in a massive plan to phase out the trackers for all Chrome users by the second half of 2024. Instead of cookies, Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” will offer a more privacy-preserving alternative. Google has waited for years to make this change due to concerns for marketers and advertisers who feared negative impacts on their profitability. But now, Google is moving ahead to protect user privacy with its “Privacy Sandbox.”
Google’s VP of Privacy Sandbox, Anthony Chavez, said, “With the Privacy Sandbox, we’re taking a responsible approach to phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome.”
What are cookies anyway?
Cookies are small snippets of text sent to Chrome or other browsers from websites you’ve visited. They are the primary trackers underpinning much of the modern internet, helping users stay logged into a site or remember what they leave in their shopping carts. But cookies may also store more personal details like your phone number and email address, functioning like unique identifiers following you as you surf the web.
The 1% of Chrome users selected for Google’s “Tracking Protection” should receive a notification when they log onto Chrome with the title “browse with more privacy.” They’ll also see an eyeball logo tucked away in their URL search bar to signify that the new tracking protections are on. If a site repeatedly fails to load because it can’t work without the banned cookies, users may be prompted with an option to temporarily re-enable the trackers. “As we work to make the web more private, we’ll provide businesses with tools to succeed online so that high-quality content remains freely accessible,” Chavez added.
Big Tech’s clash over cookies
Privacy advocates have long criticized third-party cookies due to the amount of highly specific personalized data they can include.