Google has shocked the marketing and advertising world by scrapping its plans to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser, despite widespread privacy concerns from the public.
This decision will no doubt prove frustrating for many, with the vast majority of companies having set in motion contingency plans to deal with the phasing out of third-party cookies over the last few years.
The abrupt about-face follows years of complaints from advertisers about the difficulties they would face in creating personalised ads without third-party cookies, forcing them to rely on Google’s user databases.
Earlier this year, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) told the tech giant that it could not “proceed with third-party cookie deprecation” until its concerns were resolved, citing concerns over fair competition that the Privacy Sandbox might cause.
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The original issue itself was borne out of a desire for greater online privacy, with individual users uncomfortable about the detailed tracking that third-party cookies gave advertisers.
Seeking to address these concerns, the tech giant’s Privacy Sandbox VP, Anthony Chavez has said that “an updated approach that elevates user choice” will instead be proposed, allowing users to choose whether or not they want to enable cookies on Chrome – with the ability to change this choice at any time.
Commenting on the news, Trade Desk founder and CEO, Jeff Green said: “I have been saying for years now to our industry, to Google, and even to Wall Street that I think it is a strategic mistake for Google to get rid of third-party cookies.
“Now they apparently agree. Google has finally acknowledged what the advertising industry has been saying for years — Privacy Sandbox is not a good product and doesn’t sufficiently protect consumers’ privacy or empower advertisers. And it probably hurts publisher monetisation most.
“Google seems to finally acknowledge that the best option for them is to give consumers the choice. The question that remains is—will Google truly give consumers’ choice? Or will they make the decision for consumers and then bury consumers access to change it?
“Apple has already taken this path—one that empowers Apple and deprecates users’ experience while asserting that the user can change it if they really want to and have the will to click a lot to find the buttons.”
