Google Makes A Big Call, Won’t Stop Tracking Billions Of Users: What We Know

Google is set to disappoint billions of its users who were waiting for the company to stop its cookies business for tracking them. The company has seemingly made a U-turn on its decision and will continue to have third-party cookies on the Chrome browser for users. Google is now planning for a different strategy that involves giving users more control over who is tracking them and their browsing data at the same time.

“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 personalised 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 online, that’s all 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 realised the importance of having advertisers on board and also keep 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 nought for billions of Chrome users and their calls to stop tracking.