Google announced on Monday that it planned to keep third-party cookies in its Chrome browser after years of promising to phase out the tiny packets of code designed to track users on the internet.
The U-turn comes after advertisers, the company’s main source of income, expressed concerns about the impact of losing cookies in the world’s most popular browser. They stated that removing cookies would limit their ability to gather data for customising ads, making them more reliant on Google’s user databases.
“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.
The Privacy Sandbox Initiative has been in development for about five years. It intends to improve online privacy while also providing support for digital businesses. Its primary objective has been to eliminate the use of third-party cookies gradually.
Cookies are small pieces of data utilised by websites and advertisers to recognize specific Internet users and monitor their online activities. However, cookies can also be leveraged for unwarranted tracking purposes.