Google is charging ahead with its plan to replace cookies
Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative is marching forward
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Under pressure from the EU and privacy advocates,Googlehas been spending a lot of time considering how thedigital advertisinglandscape will look once third-party cookies are gone.
The company initially createdFederated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), beforeannouncing Google Topicsas a replacement, which broadly splits the web into different topics and divides people into these groupings depending on their interests.
Now, Google is moving ahead with further testing of Google Topics and other Privacy Sandbox initiatives. AsreportedbyThe Register, the search giant has postedmessagesto developersoutliningtests of the Topics and FLEDGE APIs in the Chrome beta set for March 31.
Whereas Topics splits up the web up into different buckets, FLEDGE aims to facilitate remarketing, or showing ads on websites based on prior browsing history.
Google offered alengthy explanationon GitHub, arguing that the tools would offer “strong privacy guarantees, as well as time limits on group membership, transparency into how the advertiser interest groups are built and used, and granular or global controls over this type of ad targeting.”
Not everyone is happy
The latest cookie replacement from Google hasn’t come without scrutiny, however. Google has beencriticizedby a number of different parties, includingbrowsermaker Brave, over perceived deficiencies in its plans.
Half of Americans accept all cookies despite the security risk>Brave is now trying to dethrone Microsoft Teams and Google Meet>Google’s cookie replacement plan just passed a major hurdle
“The Topics API only touches the smallest, most minor privacy issues in FLoC, while leaving its core intact,” said Brave in ablog post. “At issue is Google’s insistence on sharing information about people’s interests and behaviors with advertisers, trackers, and others on the web that are hostile to privacy. These groups have no business—and no right—learning such sensitive information about you.”
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It remains to be seen whether Google’s latest cookie replacements will stick. But given the company’s revenue streams are reliant on tracking people across the web, it faces a race against time to develop and deploy novel systems that will allow it to do so without compromising on privacy.
Max Slater-Robins has been writing about technology for nearly a decade at various outlets, covering the rise of the technology giants, trends in enterprise and SaaS companies, and much more besides. Originally from Suffolk, he currently lives in London and likes a good night out and walks in the countryside.
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