Farewell online tracking? Google changes the rules

The online tracking system might become history after Google’s game changing move. The company announced that it would not use tracking technologies anymore. These helped the the giant follow users with its ads and make billions of dollars.

Does online tracking become history

Google announced last year that it would kill the third-party cookies, but it mentioned that the transition would last two years. So, the target was to stop using them by 2022, in its Chrome browser.

In fact, Google came with its Chrome 83 browser in May, last year. But it seemed to be a very shy attempt. Thus, in Incognito mode, Chrome did not save users’ browsing history, information in forms or browser cookies.

Still, all the changes that occurred in the industry during the last year made Google act faster. Thus, some of the big publishers, such as The New York Times announced they were working for a future with less or no third party cookies.

Also, Firefox recently brought better privacy with its new feature Total Cookie Protection. This prevents third-parties from tracking users.

So, all these changes forced Google’s decision come earlier, although this was a tough one. Google announced a $46bn record revenue from its advertising business, in the previous quarter. And this was working based on its tracking cookies.

Moreover, Startpage, a new search engine, serves ads without tracking users. And the Vivaldi browser, which started using it, became very popular rapidly.

The main concern of the informed internet users regarding the third-party cookies is their data. Data about browsing habits, preferences, age, gender, status etc. are shared using this kind of cookies. So, most of them started seeing online tracking pieces of code as a threat.

Google takes the lead… again

According to Google, it would adopt APIs which would prevent tracking individuals. Also, they should protect user privacy. Still, the new approach will cluster users in groups, based on their interest.

For this, David Temkin, director of product management for ads privacy and trust, came with the news. He announced “an end to not only third-party cookies.” Also, he excluded “any technology used for tracking individual people as they browse the web.”

Still, according to Digiday, the company will allow targeting users across its platforms. The condition is that users are logged into their Google accounts.

At this moment, the changes will not affect mobile apps and their trackers. Also, publishers will still have the choice to sell ads based on information about users’ behavior.