Google has announced its timeline for deprecating third-party cookies in its Chrome browser, starting with a small percentage of users in early 2024 and completing the process by the third quarter of the same year. The move is part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aims to replace third-party cookies with more privacy-preserving alternatives that allow users to manage their interests and group them into cohorts based on similar browsing patterns.
What are third-party cookies and why are they going away?
Third-party cookies are small pieces of data that are created and accessed by websites other than the one you are visiting. They are often used by advertisers and social networks to track your online activity across different sites and serve you personalized ads and content based on your interests. However, third-party cookies have also been criticized for violating users’ privacy and enabling intrusive and unwanted tracking.
Google, which dominates the online advertising market and the web browser market, has been under pressure from regulators, privacy advocates, and users to address the privacy concerns raised by third-party cookies. In January 2020, Google announced its intention to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome within two years, following the footsteps of other browsers such as Safari and Firefox that have already blocked or limited them.
How will Google replace third-party cookies?
Google’s proposed alternative to third-party cookies is called Privacy Sandbox, which is a set of web APIs that aim to provide advertisers and publishers with the same functionality as third-party cookies, but without compromising users’ privacy. Some of the key features of Privacy Sandbox include:
- Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC): This API allows Chrome to create groups of users with similar browsing habits, called cohorts, and share a cohort ID with websites and advertisers. This way, users can receive relevant ads and content without revealing their individual browsing history or identity.
- Federated Identity (FID): This API enables users to sign in to websites using their existing accounts from identity providers such as Google or Facebook, without sharing their personal information or passwords with third-party sites.
- Trust Tokens: This API helps websites distinguish between bots and human users, and prevent fraud and abuse, without relying on third-party cookies or fingerprinting techniques that can identify users across sites.
- Attribution Reporting: This API allows advertisers and publishers to measure the effectiveness of their ads and campaigns, such as conversions and clicks, without linking them to individual users or devices.
- Topics: This API allows websites to request a list of topics that the user is interested in, based on their browsing history, and serve them tailored content or ads based on that. The list of topics is generated by Chrome and does not reveal any personal or sensitive information about the user.
What is Google’s timeline for deprecating third-party cookies?
Google has recently updated its timeline for deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome, based on feedback from its testing and consultation with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is investigating the impact of Privacy Sandbox on competition and consumers. According to Google’s blog post, the timeline is as follows:
- Q4 2023: Google will open up testing for developers to simulate their readiness for third-party cookie deprecation by moving a configurable percentage of their users to Privacy Sandbox.
- Q1 2024: Google will migrate 1% of Chrome Stable users to Privacy Sandbox and disable third-party cookies for them. This will allow developers to test their solutions in real-world scenarios and assess their performance and impact.
- Q2-Q3 2024: Google will gradually increase the percentage of Chrome users who are migrated to Privacy Sandbox until all users have third-party cookies disabled by Q3 2024.
Google also stated that it will make its Privacy Sandbox APIs generally available to all Chrome users with the launch of Chrome 115 in July 2023, and that it will not make any significant changes to the APIs after that release.
What are the implications of Google’s plan for the online advertising industry?
Google’s plan to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome has significant implications for the online advertising industry, which relies heavily on third-party cookies for targeting, personalization, measurement, and attribution. While Google claims that its Privacy Sandbox APIs will offer comparable functionality and effectiveness as third-party cookies, some industry players have expressed doubts and concerns about Google’s dominance and influence over the web ecosystem.
Some of the challenges and opportunities that Google’s plan poses for the online advertising industry include:
- Adopting new standards and technologies: Advertisers and publishers will need to adopt new standards and technologies that are compatible with Privacy Sandbox APIs, such as FLoC IDs, Trust Tokens, Attribution Reporting APIs, etc. They will also need to test their solutions for compatibility, performance, accuracy, privacy compliance, etc.
- Losing granular and cross-site data: Advertisers and publishers will lose access to granular and cross-site data that third-party cookies provide, such as user IDs, device IDs, browsing history, etc. They will have to rely on aggregated and anonymized data from Privacy Sandbox APIs, such as cohorts, topics, etc., which may not be as precise or comprehensive as third-party cookies.
- Competing with Google: Advertisers and publishers will have to compete with Google, which has a dominant position in the online advertising market.
- Leveraging first-party data and consent: Advertisers and publishers will have to rely more on first-party data and consent from users to deliver relevant and personalized ads and content. They will have to build trust and transparency with users and offer them clear choices and controls over their data and privacy preferences.
- Exploring new opportunities and innovations: Advertisers and publishers will have to explore new opportunities and innovations that Privacy Sandbox APIs offer, such as reaching new audiences, creating new ad formats, optimizing ad performance, etc. They will also have to collaborate with Google and other industry stakeholders to shape the future of the web ecosystem.
