Google admits bad news for 3 billion Chrome users

What's even more surprising will be a shock to Chrome's massive user base.

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In a shocking move, Google suddenly admitted that its long-awaited elimination of the dreaded tracking cookie in Chrome had failed. No one saw this coming as the company struggled to agree with regulators on an approach that balances its own interests with those of the marketing industry as a whole. The announcement comes just days after Apple warned that Chrome is always watching, making the timing terrible.

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On July 22, the company teased that it was proposing an updated approach to giving users more choice, before making a shocking announcement: Rather than doing away with third-party cookies, it would introduce a new experience in Chrome that would let users make informed choices that would apply across their entire web browsing experience.

But before we ask too many questions, we don't know yet what that means. It likely means you can choose between tracking cookies, Google's semi-anonymous Topics API, and semi-private browsing. You can change your choice, which applies across the web, at any time. But there's a catch: no agreement has been reached yet. Google is in discussions with regulators about this new method, and the UK's CMA has responded that it needs to carefully consider Google's new approach.

This is bad news for Chrome's 3 billion users, most of whom never change their settings and would much rather have a browser that is more private by default. This was the focus of Apple's Chrome attack ad, which disguised itself as a pro-Safari promotion, recreating a scene from Hitchcock's “The Birds” in which users are constantly watched while browsing the web, and then Safari comes to the rescue.

Ironically, just hours before this shocking news, the EFF had warned that the Privacy Sandbox was Google's way of allowing advertisers to target ads based on users' online behavior even after Chrome completes its long-delayed phase-out of third-party cookies.

Google's Privacy Sandbox program, aimed at finding alternatives to tracking cookies, has seemingly been plagued by missteps since its inception. In its most recent iteration, it sought to funnel users into like-minded groups, but Apple, in a WebKit update released alongside attack ads, made it clear that such a move would not prevent digital fingerprinting as promised.

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“We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the ecosystem on this next phase of our journey to a more private web,” Google concluded in its statement. But the move to leave tracking cookies in place risks feeling a bit hollow, essentially an admission that Plan B for the lofty goal of a more private web has failed. Let's not forget that Google's promise to phase out tracking cookies marked its fourth anniversary earlier this year.

EFF warned that Google's decision underscores the company's willingness to put profits above user privacy. Safari and Firefox have been blocking third-party cookies by default since 2020, when Google promised to do the same. Third-party cookies are one of the most pervasive tracking technologies, allowing advertising companies and data brokers to collect and sell information about users' online activities.

Expect serious analysis of this incident in the coming days.

Watch this space

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