Google backs off on cookie removal (four years later): “We’re introducing a new experience in Chrome”
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 4:56 am
Since 2020, Google has announced the end of cookies in Chrome. Now, it proposes a new "updated approach that allows users to choose."
image of a standard chocolate chip cookie victorious on a battlefield with fallen Google logos
July 23, 2024
By Rafael Sotelo
Content manager at Marketing4eCommerce
ANDThe announced end of third-party cookies in Google Chrome has been delayed. And it seems that it is definitive.
I would say it was unexpected and surprising, but nothing is unexpected and surprising anymore on the roller coaster of emotions that Google has accustomed us to for more than four years. Four years of ups, downs, comings and goings that started with this announcement in January 2020 and that have led us to a dead end in which Google itself has decided to abandon the journey.
For now.
A story of announcements, threats, surprises… and cookies
This is not the first time that Google has postponed its plans regarding cookies. In 2021, it announced the launch of FLoC as its major bet to manage this cookiecalipsis and Privacy Sandbox as uae number data the general framework in which this process was going to be developed. Thus, Privacy Sandbox was presented as an initiative to find new ways to advertise on the internet without using third-party cookies. Instead of these cookies, Privacy Sandbox proposed using new technologies that better protect your privacy. For example, instead of following each person across all websites, it grouped people with similar interests anonymously. This way, advertisers can still show relevant ads, but without knowing exactly who you are.
For its part, “federated learning cohorts” (FLoC) condensed this proposal, with the idea of generating groups of people (cohorts) with similar interests, so that companies could approach them with similar content. In this way, users would see their privacy protected by not receiving an individual approach but rather a group approach from businesses.
However, FloC soon fell, plagued by continued doubts from both members of the digital marketing ecosystem and regulators worldwide (especially in Europe). In addition, browsers such as Firefox and Safari declared that they would not implement it. In light of this, Google decided to explore and develop other technologies within the Privacy Sandbox that could better address these privacy and competition concerns.
Later, Google introduced the most promising of these alternatives: Topics. In this context, the browser would define a series of topics, such as “fitness” or “travel,” which would represent your main interests for a given time based on your browsing history. The topics would be kept for only three weeks and old topics would be deleted. This process would be carried out entirely on your device, without the intervention of any external server, including Google servers. Thus, for example, if one week you entered a website with health-related content, Google would include “health” among its topics, so you would receive ads related to that category.
image of a standard chocolate chip cookie victorious on a battlefield with fallen Google logos
July 23, 2024
By Rafael Sotelo
Content manager at Marketing4eCommerce
ANDThe announced end of third-party cookies in Google Chrome has been delayed. And it seems that it is definitive.
I would say it was unexpected and surprising, but nothing is unexpected and surprising anymore on the roller coaster of emotions that Google has accustomed us to for more than four years. Four years of ups, downs, comings and goings that started with this announcement in January 2020 and that have led us to a dead end in which Google itself has decided to abandon the journey.
For now.
A story of announcements, threats, surprises… and cookies
This is not the first time that Google has postponed its plans regarding cookies. In 2021, it announced the launch of FLoC as its major bet to manage this cookiecalipsis and Privacy Sandbox as uae number data the general framework in which this process was going to be developed. Thus, Privacy Sandbox was presented as an initiative to find new ways to advertise on the internet without using third-party cookies. Instead of these cookies, Privacy Sandbox proposed using new technologies that better protect your privacy. For example, instead of following each person across all websites, it grouped people with similar interests anonymously. This way, advertisers can still show relevant ads, but without knowing exactly who you are.
For its part, “federated learning cohorts” (FLoC) condensed this proposal, with the idea of generating groups of people (cohorts) with similar interests, so that companies could approach them with similar content. In this way, users would see their privacy protected by not receiving an individual approach but rather a group approach from businesses.
However, FloC soon fell, plagued by continued doubts from both members of the digital marketing ecosystem and regulators worldwide (especially in Europe). In addition, browsers such as Firefox and Safari declared that they would not implement it. In light of this, Google decided to explore and develop other technologies within the Privacy Sandbox that could better address these privacy and competition concerns.
Later, Google introduced the most promising of these alternatives: Topics. In this context, the browser would define a series of topics, such as “fitness” or “travel,” which would represent your main interests for a given time based on your browsing history. The topics would be kept for only three weeks and old topics would be deleted. This process would be carried out entirely on your device, without the intervention of any external server, including Google servers. Thus, for example, if one week you entered a website with health-related content, Google would include “health” among its topics, so you would receive ads related to that category.