The tech giant has randomly selected one per cent of Chrome users globally – about 30 million people – to be the first to use a feature called ‘Tracking Protection’.
Part of Google’s controversial Privacy Sandbox, the move limits sites from using third-party cookies to track users as they browse the web to serve up relevant ads.
It comes several years after rival web browsers – Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox – blocked third-party cookies by default.
Here’s all you need to know about Chrome’s new change, and how to tell if you’re one of those affected.
What are third-party cookies?
Cookies are small files downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website.
Your browser sends these cookies back to the website every time you visit it again so it can recognise you – allowing sites to tailor what you see.
First-party cookies are set by the website you are currently on, but third-party cookies are set by websites other than the one you are currently visiting.
First-party cookies are generally helpful; for example a first party cookie lets an e-commerce website you’re revisiting remember what was in you’re shopping basket from last time.
But third-party cookies are from sites you haven’t visited and are typically used to track your browsing activity across multiple sites for advertising.
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As promised last month, Google rolled out Tracking Protection to one per cent of users from Thursday (January 4).
If you’re one of those randomly selected for Tracking Protection, you’ll see a notification in a pop-up box on Chrome for desktop or mobile.
It will read: ‘You’re one of the first to experience Tracking Protection, which limits sites from using third-party cookies to track you as you browse.’
The change will take place automatically, so as you browse the web, third-party cookies will be restricted by default, limiting the ability to track you across different websites.
If for some reason you want third-party cookies to continue on Chrome, you can click on the eye icon in the search bar, which will have a diagonal line through it.
After clicking, users will be able to toggle on the option to receive cookies, which will remove the diagonal line and bring up a message in the search bar that reads: ‘Third-party cookies allowed’.
However, if you turn cookies on, Google tells you it will automatically switch them off again after 90 days.
Even if you’re not one of the one per cent affected, the days of third-party cookies on Chrome are numbered.
Google plans to completely phase out the use of third-party cookies when Tracking Protection arrives for all users in the second half of 2024, although this is subject to regulatory approval.
According to Statista, Chrome is used by over 3.22 billion internet users, but many aren’t even sure what cookies are or what they do.
Third-party cookies are created when a user visits a website that includes elements from other sites, such as third-party images or ads.
They contrast with first-party cookies, which are set by the site a user is visiting and are often useful, as they let the browser remember important user information.
In a blog post last month, Google described third-party cookies as a ‘fundamental part of the web for nearly three decades’, but they’re controversial for tracking user activity across websites.
Google’s issue with third-party cookies is they are placed on a user’s device by websites other than the one the user is visiting – typically by digital advertising agencies.
Google plans to replace third-party cookies with a new system that restricts the sharing of data within its own organisation, which it says is better for our privacy.
Essentially, advertisers will have to ask Chrome what sort of topics they’d like to browse – such as fashion, food, or travel – rather than having direct access to our browsing data.
It’s not without controversy, however, as regulators fear the change will increase Google’s dominance of the online advertising market.
Advertisers have said the loss of cookies in the world’s most popular browser will limit their ability to collect information for personalising ads and make them dependent on Google’s user databases.
Google’s plans to banish third-party cookies for all users in 2024 is subject to addressing ‘anti-trust’ concerns raised by UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The regulator’s former chief executive Andrea Coscelli said it would keep a ‘close eye’ on the Silicon Valley giant and ‘we are under no illusions that our work is done’.
The European Union antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager also said in June that the agency’s investigations into Google’s introduction of tools to block third-party cookies – part of the company’s ‘Privacy Sandbox’ initiative – would continue.
WHAT IS GOOGLE’S NEW ‘PRIVACY SANDBOX’?
Google announced a major new initiative called the ‘privacy sandbox’ which it hopes will help to set a new standard for balancing privacy with targeted advertising.
According to the company, its new initiatives will acts as ‘open standards’ for not only the company, but for others in the business of big data and web browsing.
To help find a medium, Google said it will home in on several key areas of user data that include:
- Ad Selection, which helps advertisers glean personal information that is used to target ads. Google says it wants to further anonymize data while still providing ad companies the information they need to target audiences.
- Conversion Measurement, which tracks whether or not an ad has resulted in a sale. Google was less specific, but said it is in the initial stages of planning, along with Apple, on how to adjust metrics for privacy expectations
- Fraud Prevention, which are tools used to help combat fraudulent or malicious advertising that may scam customers. While those tools may help to protect users, Google says they can sometimes encroach on privacy
Google says its initiatives will likely take ‘multiple years’ and has invited members of its advertising community and others in its platform to give feedback.
