Google’s Chrome browser (GOOG, GOOGL) said this week that it will not deploy other web tracking tools after the elimination of third-party cookies in 2022. But that will not transform your online experience, nor will it prevent you from seeing whiskey ads if you just researched how to mix a Manhattan.
“You are still 100% targeted,” Elizabeth Renieris, an affiliate of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, told Yahoo Finance. Even though Google does not replace cookies with other tools that track you individually, it is looking for alternatives that will put users in larger groups with similar interests, against which advertisers can buy ads.
And while this may not be what hardline privacy advocates want to hear, the truth is that ads support most of the sites you visit every day. Without them, we would be facing a very different internet, where the sites charge you directly for the content they offer.
What does this mean for your browsing habits
To define the table here, there are two forms of web browser cookies. First-party cookies come from the website you are actively visiting and are generally useful. Say, for example, that you visit Yahoofinance.com. Then, your computer will download a cookie from the website that will store your preferences so that you don’t have to constantly log in to your account or reorganize the page the way you want.
On the other hand, advertising companies place third-party cookies on websites to track their online activities. These advertisers use the information collected from these cookies to track their activity on the web and provide ads that align with their general interests – a practice known as targeted advertising. In theory, these cookies can also be useful, as they serve ads for products that you may actually want to buy.
So, why the change? According to Bennett Cyphers, a technologist on the Electronic Frontier Foundation team, Google is eliminating third-party cookies, in part, to comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.
What does this mean for you? If you want to get an idea of what Chrome will look like when dumping third-party cookies, check out the Mozilla Firefox browser or Apple’s Safari, which have blocked third-party cookies since 2019 and 2020, respectively. It is not exactly different.
But getting rid of third-party cookies offers some privacy benefits that are more difficult to see.
Although third-party cookies are apparently intended to give advertisers a better idea of their interests, opponents say they can be used by data brokers to determine their exact identity. They do this by combining your browsing habits with unique identifiers, such as your IP address, email or name, to find out who you are and trigger increasingly targeted ads.
Without these cookies, you will have better overall online privacy.
What will replace these cookies?
Google is experimenting with several alternatives to replace third-party cookies, including a new mechanism called the Federated Learning of Cohorts, or FLoC. FLoC, according to the company, is “a new way for companies to reach people with relevant content and ads, grouping large groups of people with similar interests”.
FLoC will essentially put you in a group of other Chrome users who apparently have the same type of interests. Advertisers will then be able to target you through a group, rather than individually. Therefore, you are not running away from targeted ads with Google’s decision to leave third-party cookies in the dust, but you are gaining some privacy benefits.
There are, however, concerns about FLoCs, mainly that they can lead to discriminatory advertising practices.
“There are certainly major concerns around discrimination and how these cohorts are being formed and how much transparency we will have in this and what it means for the way we are targeted,” said Renieris.
The fear is that if an advertiser wanted to target a specific race, religion or ethnic group with ads, he would simply have to choose a specific FLoC identifier.
While the easy answer may be to completely eliminate web advertising, Garrett Johnson, an assistant professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, says it would mean the end of the web as we know it.
By eliminating a means of effectively monetizing their sites through ads, website owners will have to find other sources of revenue, which can mean charging users. Even eliminating targeted advertising would be a problem.
“Modern digital advertising is built on identity between sites using cookies,” said Johnson. “And if you get rid of it … our research shows that sites earn two or three times less revenue. So, it hurts the sites, it hurts the open web. “
However, Johnson, who is part of the Worldwide Web Consortium’s Web Advertising for Improvement Business Group, says that Google’s third-party cookie alternatives are likely to offer consumers and advertisers some sort of compromise.
“From the user[s] they would have better guarantees of privacy, because they are being targeted as a group, instead of having their individual information shared ”, he explained. Consumers would also see more personalized ads than items such as ear wax removal tools and tooth whitening services.
Google’s changes are not going to start for another year. And the end result may not mean much change for most users. But, behind the scenes, it will probably provide more privacy, without having to pay for it.
Sign up for the Yahoo Finance Tech newsletter
Do you have a tip? Send an email to Daniel Howley at [email protected] through an encrypted message in [email protected]and follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
More from Dan:
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, the Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, SmartNews, LinkedIn, You Tube, and reddit. Find live stock market quotes and the latest business and finance newsFor tutorials and information on investing and trading stocks, take a look at Cashay.