The day that many Google users have been waiting for has finally arrived.
The search engine giant is rolling out the first phase for cookie removal, which has been a tracking protection strategy that many have been anticipating for months.
After much debate, the Android maker confirmed last month how it would start getting rid of tracking cookies for a majority of its users.
A blog post describing this announcement was also made yesterday where they confirmed that the first phase to making this endeavor successful is linked to a Tracking Protection trial. The latest feature limits tracking carried out from one site to the next by limiting access of webpages to cookies owned by third parties. The latter used to be done through default means, whether the user provided consent or not, it was happening, causing outrage and uproar.
For now, the test is getting launched for 1% of the Chrome user base around the globe. This happens to be a significant milestone in the Privacy Sandbox plan to eradicate cookies owned by third parties. The whole goal is to get the effect into place for the masses during the latter part of 2024 as right now, the whole matter is being scrutinized and is subject to many concerns by competition regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom.
While the figure might not seem like a lot because it’s just 1% of the Chrome userbase in reality, that accounts for a staggering figure of 1 million individuals. Therefore, plenty of users would shift toward Google’s privacy-friendly process for tracking data, starting now. As one can expect, this is not the type of news for advertisers who used to make the most benefit from web tracking activities.
Those involved in the trial would witness new alerts when they open the platform. This includes how the change would be major as cookies are known for giving companies a clearer understanding of how to carry out targeted advertising and grab a hold of their respective clientele to achieve benefits. Now, the new replacement would be in the form of users getting categorized as topic listings. The difference here is that it’s done anonymously so brands can see ads to many users but they cannot use granular targeting depending on the specifics of what people like on the website.
The end result unfortunately would be worse performing marketing initiatives which signals less funds in the direction of web publishers who used to use this as their bread and butter means of earning. In general, it would also mean saying hello to a significantly less experience of using the web online for all-through ads that are less specific and more generalized in nature. But the downside here is the factor of costs linked to ad targeting for all businesses.
Whatever the case may be, the search engine giant claims it’s more than determined to move ahead with this kind of data privacy plan that would force marketers toward a new era of trial and error. After all, it’s never been done before so the goal here is to maximize the effectiveness of tools from Google’s Sandbox.
Since it is just a test for now, the real effect it has on the world will come into place slowly and surely. However, today is certainly a major moment in Google’s history as it marks a giant leap in this regard.
The company vows to get rid of all kinds of tracking through cookies by 2024’s end so let’s see if they can achieve that success as the start looks promising.
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