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The major reversal follows concerns from advertisers - the
company's biggest source of income - saying the loss of cookies
in the world's most popular browser will limit their ability to
collect information for personalizing ads, making them dependent
on Google's user databases.
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority had also scrutinized
Google's plan over concerns it would impede competition in
digital advertising.
"Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce
a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed
choice that applies across their web browsing, and they'd be
able to adjust that choice at any time," Anthony Chavez, vice
president of the Google-backed Privacy Sandbox initiative, said
in a blog post.
Since 2019, the Alphabet unit has been working on the Privacy
Sandbox initiative aimed at enhancing online privacy while
supporting digital businesses, with a key goal being the
phase-out of third-party cookies.
Cookies are packets of information that allow websites and
advertisers to identify individual web surfers and track their
browsing habits, but they can also be used for unwanted
surveillance.
In the European Union, the use of cookies is governed by the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which stipulates that
publishers secure explicit consent from users to store their
cookies. Major browsers also give the option to delete cookies
on command.
Chavez said Google was working with regulators such as the UK's
CMA and Information Commissioner's Office as well as publishers
and privacy groups on the new approach, while continuing to
invest in the Privacy Sandbox program.
The announcement drew mixed reactions.
"Advertising stakeholders will no longer have to prepare to quit
third-party cookies cold turkey," eMarketer analyst Evelyn
Mitchell-Wolf said in a statement.
Lena Cohen, staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, said cookies can lead to consumer harm, for instance
predatory ads that target vulnerable groups. "Google's decision
to continue allowing third-party cookies, despite other major
browsers blocking them for years, is a direct consequence of
their advertising-driven business model," Cohen said in a
statement.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik and Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco;
Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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