- Google has begun disabling third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users worldwide.
- “Chrome is restricting third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users by default to facilitate testing, and then will roll it out to 100% of users starting in Q3 2024,” it explains on its blog.
- Google will soon start charging you to use WhatsApp on Android: Take note to avoid it.
Third-party cookies are probably the most controversial type of cookie in terms of data privacy. They usually track your behavior for advertising purposes and are not directly part of the websites you visit.
Instead, they are often embedded in advertisements, videos or web banners. Even Facebook’s “Like” button uses third-party cookies. With all this, Google announced late last year that it will begin disabling cookies for a random 1% of Chrome users worldwide on January 4 – some 30 million people.
“Chrome is restricting third-party ‘cookies’ for 1% of Chrome users by default to facilitate testing, and then will apply it to up to 100% of users starting in Q3 2024,” its blog post reads.
Anthony Chavez, Google’s vice president, said in a blog post, “We are taking a responsible approach to phase out third-party ‘cookies’ in Chrome. “If a site doesn’t work without third-party ‘cookies’ and Chrome notices you’re having problems… we’ll offer you an option to temporarily re-enable third-party ‘cookies’ for that website.”
What does this mean for advertisers, and for users?
However, advertisers object to the changes. They say third-party cookies are an essential part of their business and that without them, it will be harder for them to reach customers and earn revenue.
“Google’s Chrome Privacy Sandbox solution, which only works on a Chrome browser, is unlikely to benefit anyone but Google,” said Phil Duffield, UK vice president of The Trade Desk, which operates a platform for businesses to buy ads online.
“Protecting consumer privacy online doesn’t have to mean making it harder for publishers to earn revenue,” he added. In the face of this predictable response, Google also claims to be developing new technologies that will allow advertisers to display personalized ads without using third-party cookies.
For users, on the other hand, things change quite a bit, and disabling third-party cookies means they may see fewer personalized ads. In addition, the data that is collected through third-party cookies is used to create user profiles that are used for marketing purposes or even for fraudulent purposes.
Despite this, they may also encounter a small disadvantage and that is that they are likely to have to log in to websites more frequently, as cookies are often used to remember users’ credentials.