Google promises it won’t build alternative identifiers once cookies are gone

Mariam Cheik-Hussein
By Mariam Cheik-Hussein | 4 March 2021
 

Google says it won’t be building alternative identifiers to track users around the web once third-party cookies have been phased out.

Instead, the company has committed to using its alternative solution called FloC which anonymises users.

Last year, Google Chrome committed to removing support for third-party cookies which help track users as they move around the web for targeted advertising.

In a blog post, Google ruled out joining companies in the ad tech industry who plan to replace third-party cookies with alternative user-lever identifiers and has focused on building its Privacy Sandbox.

“Today, we’re making explicit that once third-party cookies are phased out, we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products,” says director of product management, ads privacy and trust David Temkin.

“We realize this means other providers may offer a level of user identity for ad tracking across the web that we will not — like PII graphs based on people’s email addresses. We don’t believe these solutions will meet rising consumer expectations for privacy, nor will they stand up to rapidly evolving regulatory restrictions, and therefore aren’t a sustainable long term investment.

“Instead, our web products will be powered by privacy-preserving APIs which prevent individual tracking while still delivering results for advertisers and publishers.”

Google has been working on its alternative solution for third-party cookies called FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) which groups individuals in large crowds based on their interests and serves ads based on factors that are non-specific to individuals.

Chrome plans on making FLoC-based cohorts available for public testing through origin trials with its next release this month, and expects to begin testing FLoC-based cohorts with advertisers in Google Ads in the second quarter.

Google says it will continue to support first-party relationships for its ad platform for partners where they have direct connections with customers.

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