The search engine giant stating to do the opposite (meaning: to remove cookies) on several occasions, but was reluctant to do so and was fooling around back and forth with the idea:
Google’s reverse of its long-standing promise to eliminate these small tracking codes is a significant change that probably comes in response to concerns from advertisers. They rely heavily on cookies to gather data for personalized advertising. Advertisers argued that removing cookies from the world’s leading browser would hinder their data collection efforts, forcing them to depend more on Google’s own user databases.
Additionally, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority had been examining Google’s original plan, worried that it might stifle competition in the digital advertising market.Anthony Chavez, vice president of the Google-backed Privacy Sandbox initiative, stated in a blog post that instead of eliminating third-party cookies, Google plans to introduce a new Chrome feature that allows users to make informed choices about their web browsing, with the flexibility to adjust these choices at any time.
Chavez mentioned that Google is collaborating with regulators like the UK’s CMA and Information Commissioner’s Office, as well as publishers and privacy groups, to develop this new approach, while continuing to invest in the Privacy Sandbox program.
The announcement received mixed reactions. Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, an eMarketer analyst, noted that advertising stakeholders would no longer have to abruptly stop using third-party cookies. Lena Cohen, a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, pointed out that cookies can lead to consumer harm, such as predatory ads targeting vulnerable groups.
What do you think? Will cookies ever be gone? And if so, will that even matter?