Google Chrome launches built-in user tracking for advertisers

cointelegraph.com:

Google Chrome launched its built-in tracking and ad-curation platform, “Privacy Sandbox,” on Sept. 11, according to a company blog post. The platform was originally rolled out to a small percentage of users but is now available to around 97% of users. Google said the remaining 3% will be onboarded over the next few months.

Privacy experts have criticized the new tracking system. But in its announcement, Google defended it, stating that Privacy Sandbox needs to be implemented to eliminate third-party cookies and fingerprinting.

Google is introducing Privacy Sandbox to Chrome users, replacing third-party cookies with more privacy-centric tracking of topics of interest. However, concerns arise about transparency and data collection. Users can control ad topics in Settings. #PrivacySandbox pic.twitter.com/fLzLZO309m

Over 80% of websites use Google’s Adsense service to generate ads on their pages, according to business analytics platform 6sense. To target ads to readers effectively, Adsense embeds cookies in the user’s browser. These cookies track the user’s behavior as they browse from site to site, gathering data that can be used to determine what products they may be interested in buying. Because these cookies are produced by Google rather than the website being visited, they are often called “third-party cookies.”

Some competing ad platforms such as Microsoft Ads also use third-party cookies.

Privacy advocates have criticized the practice of embedding third-party cookies, and some users have sought ways to block them. Apple’s Safari, Mozilla’s Firefox and Brave’s Brave browser have all implemented blocks on third-party cookies by default. Chrome users can also choose to block these cookies through the settings menu.

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