Google's Bold Move: Why It Won't Halt Tracking Billions of Users

Billions of Google users have been waiting for the company to stop its cookies business for tracking them. But those who were patiently waiting for this day to come might not be so happy.

It was expected that Google would end the use of cookies by third parties but later flirted with the idea of keeping them for Chrome users. Google has switched its plans and now will go for a different path but one that also grants users more power to know who is tracking them and to clean their browsing data.

“Rather than phasing out third-party cookies, we are developing a new experience in Chrome that enables users to make informed decisions about their tracking preferences,” Anthony Chavez, VP, Privacy Sandbox said in a post this week.

These cookies have been around for years on Chrome which allows the platform to track the activities on the web and also help advertisers push personalized ads based on the data. The decision to not remove third-party cookies is the latest move from Google this year that will surely bring the company under intense scrutiny. Google had announced the Privacy Sandbox a few years back which finally made it to the execution stage earlier this year.

People were eagerly waiting for the big change and removal of cookies from the browser. As you might know, all the ads of a product you see after browsing it online are because of the cookies that third-party websites can track and push ads on your screen.

The move was meant to support developers in conducting real-world experiments that assess the readiness and effectiveness of their products without third-party cookies, Chavez had said earlier this year.

The change in their stance over cookies suggests Google has realized the importance of having advertisers on board and also keeping the users happy so that the regulators don’t grill the company over such drastic revisions to their original plans.

Google has said that the experience for users will roll out soon but it will need the go-ahead from the regulators before the feature is available to the end users. It just sounds like all the efforts put in over the last few years will eventually come to naught for billions of Chrome users and their calls to stop tracking.

As for how cookies work, Cookies are packets of data that allow websites and advertisers to identify individual web surfers and track their browsing habits, but they can also be used for unwanted surveillance (infamous for privacy issues).

In the European Union, the use of cookies is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which stipulates that publishers secure explicit consent from users to store their cookies. Major browsers including Google also give the option to delete cookies on command.