One of the main reasons for the delay is the UK Competition Markets Authority (CMA), as publishers, developers and the advertising industry have pointed out that removing this element could affect their revenues and these comments have influenced the decision to maintain third-party cookies while seeking a smoother transition to Privacy Sandbox.
According to eMarketer, the elimination of third-party cookies would affect the entire digital ecosystem. Google has therefore opted for a more gradual approach, allowing users to make informed decisions about the use of cookies through an opt-in experience in Chrome.
This means that users must explicitly opt in to the tool before they can use it, meaning the feature is disabled and only activated if the user chooses to opt in.
Chrome uses this type of opt-in option for some features, such as notifications, where websites can request permission to send these types of notifications to users, but they must first obtain the browser’s permission.
Google Chrome has a “flags” section (chrome://flags) where users can enable experimental features. These features are disabled by default and require the user to manually enable them.
Importance of Opt-in
This type of interaction allows users to have more control over which features they want to activate, thereby protecting their privacy and personalizing their browsing experience. It also goes some way to ensuring that users are aware of what features they are enabling and the potential impacts or benefits they may have.
For third-party cookies, Google will introduce a new experience in Chrome where users can decide whether or not to allow the use of third-party cookies, similar to Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) opt-in pop-up.
According to eMarketer, initial testing of Privacy Sandbox APIs has shown that they can support a competitive marketplace and improve over time as the industry adopts them. However, it acknowledges that the transition needs more time and fine-tuning.
“The extent to which consumers opt out of third-party cookie sharing (if that is what Google is proposing) depends largely on the importance of the privacy call to action,” said Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, senior analyst at the marketing consultancy. “If there is an ATT-style pop-up, we could easily end up with more consumers opting out of sharing their data.”
Most consumers don’t choose to share data when asked. A 2023 Mobile App Trends report found that iOS apps across all categories had a global opt-in rate of 29%.
What implications would there be?
For advertisers: The advertising industry will need to adapt to an environment where third-party cookies will no longer be the dominant tracking method. Advertisers will need to develop strategies to collect first-party data and collaborate on data sharing to stay relevant.
For users: Users will have more control over their privacy and will be able to decide whether or not to allow tracking through third-party cookies. This could result in fewer users sharing their data, similar to what has been seen with Apple’s ATT, which has a 29% opt-in rate.
For media: Media outlets could face challenges in ad personalization and revenue generation as they rely less on third-party cookies and more on user authentication through paywalls and registrations.
Although Google has postponed the elimination of third-party cookies, the trend toward a greater focus on user privacy is inevitable. The industry will need to adapt to new technologies and data collection methods that are privacy-friendly. Third-party cookies will eventually become a small part of a broader set of data points used for digital advertising.
This latest announcement from Google reflects its efforts to balance user privacy concerns with the needs of the advertising industry, allowing for a smoother transition to a cookie-free future.
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