Google and third-party cookies
Google refuses to say goodbye to third-party cookies and delays its decision until mid-2023
In a recent press release, Google informed the world that they decided to delay their departure from using third-party cookies until mid-2023. The company Mountain View stated that they still need time to get rid of Google’s third-party cookies to make a good job that lets them accomplish their main goal.
The company initially stated that cookies would be eliminated in 2022, this decision was made as a way to:
- Change internet rules and start their own alternative pattern.
- With this pattern, make the internet more private, without creating a problem for companies and web developers.
- With these actions, prosperous and accessible businesses are achieved for users who are established in the world of web browsing.
“We believe that the internet community needs to work together to develop a series of open standards that fundamentally improve privacy on the web; providing users more transparency and greater control over how their data is used”, declared Google in their press release.
Even though Google delayed their decision until 2023, their goal is to achieve it on Google Chrome at the end of 2022, which will help the company make an exhaustive follow-up of the technology’s adoption and analyze user feedback. This follow-up would last around nine months, enough time to verify if this change is possible.
What are Google’s third-party cookies?
Google’s third-party cookies are sent to a computer, mobile device, or any device with an internet connection from a third-party domain, which is a website completely independent of the visited site. These cookies are commonly used to track information on usual visits in order to offer more personalized security options.
On the other hand, the original or first-party cookies are sent by the domain to facilitate and speed up navigation and future visits, i.e. saved usernames and passwords are part of the main cookies used by Google.
Chrome is currently the most popular web browser, used by around 64% of online users, according to StatCounter, therefore third-party cookies being eliminated will greatly hinder online marketing.
Advertisements on Google
Nevertheless, Google does not forget that their main online revenue comes from third party-cookies, even though they admit that they have damaged user’s trust because of all the information it tracks.
72% of users consider that advertisers, tech firms, and other companies are the ones collecting this information. While 81% of the public also considers that this type of collected data generates greater risks than benefits, so eliminating third-party cookies is the right decision to gain back the trust and privacy that are the future on the web.
In March 2021, Google promised its users that after eliminating those cookies, it would not create alternative identifiers to track people during their web searches, nor show them advertisements to sell products. They consider that employing this tactic is not a sustainable investment in the long term, their proposal is to go to the privacy route and guarantee results for advertisers and users.
Google’s alternative to eliminate third-party cookies
The alternative to completely eliminate third-party cookies on Google was first proposed in 2020. It is a collaborative project launched in 2019 called “Privacy Sandbox” that was created with the idea of developing new technologies that lay the foundations of new standards to replace the current internet rules.
This Project is also integrated into a project Google calls “Federated Learning of Cohorts”.
Federated Learning of Cohorts
This project seeks to create a path that lets users enable “online” publicity where collective interests prevail, instead of individual interests.
If this alternative is implemented:
- Cookies will set aside the analysis of the online personal behavior of each individual user
- It is replaced by a sample based on the behavior of a group of people with similar tastes.
- This new alternative will also generate changes as effective as the ones third-party cookies achieve.
These pages have shown themselves against this new alternative since they consider it just as invasive as Google’s third-party cookies:
- DuckDuckGo
- Amazon
- Github
- And others.
Kamyl Bazbaz, the vice president of communications from DuckDuckGo, considers that marketing specialists must understand that Google’s pro-privacy commitment to reducing cookie’s dependency was a means to strengthen their already dominant position on the advertisement market.
Bazbaz also highlights that this alternative proposed by Google runs the same risk compared to usual strategies involving follow-ups and approach the customer without their approval; so users would still take preventive measures to avoid third parties from tracking their information and personal data.
Chrome’s main competitors, like Safari or Firefox, don’t use third-party cookies on their products anymore, they blocked them a long time ago.
Google’s delay will give tech experts, marketers, and editors enough time to create a convincing solution that meet customers’ and advertiser’s competitive necessities that keep browsing free, just like we have always known it.
These sectors consider Google’s proposed alternative generates more questions than answers. The only option is to work together and find a solution that allows them to gain back user confidence, so they can once again use the platform without any risks.
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