Despite previous promises and expressed favors, Google continues to postpone deleting third-party cookies on Chromewith no sign of a soft start, at least in the near future.
This raises questions about the fate of the world’s most popular browser: Unlike Apple and Mozilla, which eliminated user tracking technology in 2020, Google has continued to procrastinate on the change.
After initially planning the deprecation in 2020 and subsequently delaying it to 2023 and then 2024, the company recently announced a further delay, stating that It won’t happen until next year.
The implications of Privacy Sandbox
The reasons for this new slip can be found in the regulations of the United Kingdom, as reported in a recent post on the company blog, where Google cited the difficulties in managing feedback from the industry.
The announcement of the delay is part of the quarterly reports that Google is submitting to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), highlighting the growing involvement of regulatory institutions in the issue.
According to reports, while criticizing Google for the delay in eliminating third-party cookies on Chrome might seem simple, it is important to consider that the company is not completely autonomous in this decision.
By working closely with the CMA, Google is committed to ensuring that proposed alternatives to cookies do not compromise free competition.
These alternatives, collected by Google under the name of Privacy Sandboxhave already sparked controversy, with some tech companies, publishers and advertising agencies believing that the proposed tools fall short and give too much power to Google.
The package is subject to approval by the CMA, which is reviewing industry test results expected by the end of June.
Either all or none
While other browser providers have already eliminated third-party cookies, Google has decided to keep the user tracking function active until it has implemented a alternative advertising solution directly in Chrome.
Interestingly, the UK CMA’s main concern is not so much user privacy but rather competition in the online advertising industry.
The UK wants to prevent Google from favoring its own advertising business at the expense of competitors, which is why it is interested in ensuring that changes to Chrome do not exclusively favor the company’s interests.
The new advertising system, called Topics API and integrated into the Privacy Sandbox, will be launched in 2023 and Google AdSense is already compatible.
