Google Scraps plans to remove cookies from Chrome

Google is planning to keep third-party cookies in its Chrome browser, it said Monday, after years of pledging to phase out small packages of code meant to track users across the Internet.

The big reversal follows concerns from advertisers – the company’s biggest source of income – that the loss of cookies in the world’s most popular browser will limit their ability to collect information to personalize ads, making them dependent on Google’s user databases. .

The UK Competition and Markets Authority also scrutinized Google’s plan due to concerns it would impede competition in digital advertising.

“Instead of discontinuing third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that allows people to make an informed choice that applies to their web browsing, and they can adjust that choice at any time,” Anthony Chavez, vice president of Google-backed Privacy Sandbox initiative said in a blog post.

Since 2019, the Alphabet unit has been working on the Privacy Sandbox initiative that aims to improve online privacy and, at the same time, support digital businesses, with the main objective of phasing out third-party cookies.

Cookies are packets of information that allow websites and advertisers to identify individual Internet users and track their browsing habits, but they can also be used for unwanted surveillance.

In the European Union, the use of cookies is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which stipulates that publishers obtain explicit consent from users to store their cookies. Major browsers also offer the option to delete cookies on command.

Chavez said Google is working with regulators such as the UK CMA and Information Commissioner’s Office, as well as publishers and privacy groups on the new approach, while continuing to invest in the Privacy Sandbox program.

The announcement generated mixed reactions.

“Advertising stakeholders will no longer have to prepare to abandon third-party cookies,” said eMarketer analyst Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf in a statement.

Lena Cohen, a technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said cookies can cause consumer harm, for example, predatory ads targeting vulnerable groups. “Google’s decision to continue allowing third-party cookies, even though other major browsers have blocked them for years, is a direct consequence of its advertising-driven business model,” Cohen said in a statement.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)