Google To Kill Third-Party Cookies In Chrome Browser For Better Privacy!

Shoes!

That’s what you’re searching for while you take a break at work!

You open a tab and begin browsing for a nice pair of running shoes. You check out a wide variety of them and come across formal shoes as well. You suddenly remember the important business function you have next month and quickly scroll through some classy formal footwear. You add a few to the cart, so you can order them later.

Your break is over. #BackToWork

Now you’re browsing blogs and articles on how to ace B2B marketing! (Check out ours!)

The next day, you come across several ads showing a vast variety of sports shoes and formal shoes. Why, oh why?

You don’t need any more shoes! You find yourself wishing you could turn off targeted advertisements but you also know (thanks to the B2B marketing blogs) that online browsing utilizes cookies.

Well, Google is here with its newest version of Chrome to help with that!

How? Let’s look!
 

What Is Google Doing?

 

• Google finally rolled out its plan to get rid of third-party cookies in its web browser, Chrome, with its Chrome 115 version release on July 18th. 

• The company will also gradually begin enabling its Privacy Sandbox toolkit for developers, which will replace third-party tracking cookies with privacy-preserving API (Application Programming Interface) alternatives.

 

What Is Privacy Sandbox?

 

• As per Google’s Chrome Developers website, “The Privacy Sandbox initiative aims to create technologies that both protect people’s privacy online and give companies and developers tools to build thriving digital businesses.”

• The main purpose of this initiative is to eliminate support for third-party cookies and reduce cross-site and cross-app tracking and strengthen privacy boundaries.  

• Essentially, this will allow web browsers to protect users and their identifying information directly on their devices, while they browse the internet, by affording them more control.

• Businesses can benefit by showing relevant content and ads to users who enable interest-based advertising, improving their audience targeting, with the help of its Topics API.

So, What Is Topics API?

 

• The Topics API (Application Programming Interface) picks a handful of topics based on your top interests for that particular week according to your browsing history.

• These topics are selected from data stored on your device and not any external server or Google servers. Topics are stored for three weeks only, while the old ones are deleted.

• When a user visits a particular site, Topics will pick three topics, one from each of the past three weeks, which will be shared with the website and advertising partners.

• Chrome will also soon offer users control to view and remove topics or completely disable the feature.

 

What Is The Proposed Timeline?

 

• While the concept of blocking third-party cookies was announced all the way back in 2020 with an intention to complete it within 2 years, the first phase was complete with the public release of the stable Chrome 115 version was released on July 18th, 2023.

• Initially, the APIs will be enabled for a limited number of Chrome developers and will gradually increase as Google monitors potential issues.

• Only a few developers will have all APIs enabled during the rollout, while some will only have subsets activated, as this would make it easier to detect and isolate specific issues.

• This process is set to begin starting July 24, with plans to enable the APIs for around 35% browsers.

• The beginning of August will see the number scaled to 60%, with 99% availability on Chrome 115 around mid-August, which is also the planned date for the Chrome 116 release.

• Of course, Google’s Privacy Sandbox will take a little while longer to complete, having to develop over several stages, however, the release of the APIs is a big step towards the company’s goal of removing third-party cookies.

• Google plans to eliminate third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users in Q1 2023 and completely turn them off by Q3 2024.

The big question is: What does this mean for businesses? Primarily it enables better targeting of ads and content to audiences who are actually interested in purchasing their products or services. Additionally, this allows can be done while assuring better protection and data privacy for end-users.

What do you think of Google’s move to remove third-party cookies and their plan? Let us know in the comments below!