Google said on Monday it plans to keep third-party cookies in its Chrome browser, after years of promising to phase out small packets of code meant to track users across the Internet.
The major reversal follows concerns from advertisers – the company’s biggest source of revenue – who said the elimination of cookies on the world’s most popular browser would limit their ability to collect information to personalise ads, leaving them reliant on Google’s user database.
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority also investigated Google’s plan over concerns it would stifle competition in digital advertising.
“Instead of removing third-party cookies, we’ll introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice about what applies to their web browsing, and they’ll be able to adjust that choice at any time,” Anthony Chavez, vice president of the Google-backed Privacy Sandbox initiative, said in a blog post.
Since 2019, the Alphabet unit has been working on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aims to enhance online privacy while supporting digital businesses, with the main goal of phasing out third-party cookies.
Cookies are packets of information that allow websites and advertisers to identify individual web surfers and track their browsing habits, but they can also be used for unwanted surveillance.
In the European Union, the use of cookies is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which stipulates that publishers must obtain explicit consent from users to store their cookies. Major browsers also offer the option to delete cookies on command.
Chavez said Google is working with regulators such as the UK CMA and Information Commissioner’s Office, as well as publishers and privacy groups, on the new approach, as well as continuing to invest in the Privacy Sandbox program.
The announcement drew mixed reactions.
“Advertising stakeholders no longer have to prepare for the sudden abandonment of third-party cookies,” eMarketer analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf said in a statement.
Lena Cohen, staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said cookies can harm consumers, for example through predatory advertising that targets vulnerable groups. “Google’s decision to continue allowing third-party cookies, despite other major browsers blocking them for years, is a direct result of their advertising-driven business model,” Cohen said in a statement.
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