Google’s years-long plan to rid Chrome of third-party cookies crumbles

For the last five years, Google has been working on eliminating third-party cookies altogether from the Chrome web browser and replacing it with its new Privacy Sandbox technology. However, according to a new update posted yesterday, third-party cookies will not be deprecated by default in Chrome. Users will instead be allowed to “make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time”.

What are third-party cookies?

Cookies are small text files created and saved on a user’s device by a website to store certain user-specific information even after he/she leaves the website, such as language preference, login details and items added to a shopping cart. They help personalise and enhance one’s browsing experience.

Third-party cookies differ from first-party cookies in that while the latter are created and used by the host domain, or the website itself, the former are created and read by a third party domain, primarily for tracking and advertising purposes, as well as for features like live chat. They are what allows an ad publisher to remember a product you searched for shopping online and show you ads for similar products on a different website.

Where does Google stand now?

With a 65% usage share among web browsers, Chrome is currently one of the few popular ones that allow third-party cookies – Safari and Firefox block them by default. Google has long recognised the need to follow suit, and has been working on it. However, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, among other parties, has raised concerns over the possibility that the alternative tech to cookies would favour Google’s own ad business over the competition, and is actively scrutinising Privacy Sandbox.

A more plausible reason for the decision not to deprecate cookies perhaps lies in recent testing done on Privacy Sandbox APIs, which revealed a performance drop when attempting to engage customers with follow-up ads (aka remarketing). As Google said in yesterday’s update, “we recognize this transition requires significant work by many participants and will have an impact on publishers, advertisers, and everyone involved in online advertising.”

Considering that Google Ads is the primary source of revenue for Alphabet Inc, it’s no mystery where Google’s priorities lie. The company claims that it is “proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice”, but it’s not clear exactly how that will be executed. For one thing, the option to dive into the settings and disable third-party cookies has always existed anyway; for another, the reality is that most users will never bother with disabling cookies – the only way to truly get rid of them is to disable them by default, as other browsers do.

Google says that it is still in the process of refining its solution, in close collaboration with regulators. Meanwhile, it will need to project a clearer stance in the court of public opinion. That won't be easy, what with Apple recently putting out this rather ominous ad warning users of being tracked if they use Chrome on iPhone: