Google’s Hand is Back in the Cookie Jar

After years of kicking the can down the road, Google has finally decided to call it quits on quitting cookies. While this announcement isn’t a surprise to anyone in the industry, it does serve as a reminder that being prepared is one thing but taking any big tech company’s word as gospel could end up with you spending a lot of money on an update that may never come.

FLoC Flops

Google has been saying for years that cookies was going to be depreciated for Chrome but after delay after delay, it seems apparent this update is never happening. Arguably the first indicator this wasn’t going to happen was when Google announced “FLoC” or federated learning of cohorts. This was Google’s silver bullet for replacing cookies. However, the industry largely rejected FLoC as its security features ended up (allegedly) causing more data privacy concerns than cookies. Its our opinion that Google expected the industry to take to FLoC like the industry had done in the past with other tech updates Google said to invest in. However, with AMP depreciation fresh in mind of the industry and with other must have updates in place like “authorship,” the industry rightly rejected FLoC and this technology flopped – hard. This left Google with no real plan B and the inevitable delay and push back date for cookies depreciation was in motion.

Why Did Google Want to Get Rid of Cookies

On the surface, the answer comes down to privacy and data concerns. However, for most users cookies are not really top of mind for digital security but for developers and others, the risk cookies could potentially present was top of mind. However, when compared to alternatives (such as FLoC), cookies still seemed like the safest bet for user privacy. Mostly because it was existing technology and developers knew how to properly manage it. However, anyone who knows how Google operates and how its parent company Alphabet operates will tell you – this was never about data privacy. It was always about finding ways to control user data and keep that data within Google’s ecosphere. Essentially cutting out the middle man making Google the primary data vendor.

Data is big money and allowing third parties to collect that data essentially prevents Google from selling it or otherwise making money of the data its users are generating. By eliminating cookies and implementing their own technology on their web browser, they effectively ensure they can control all the data and by default, revenue, that new data collection alternative to cookies would be. Keep in mind, Chrome is the world’s most widely used web browser. While it does take a lot of resources, it is generally fast and when compared to alternatives, it felt new, updated, and modern. Today, roughly 60% of internet users are using Chrome to browse, that coupled with Google being responsible for around 60%+ of all web referral traffic paints a pretty damming picture regarding the actual intent behind the cookie depreciation. Google not only has the majority of browser users but they are also responsible for most referral traffic going to the majority of websites. Exclusion being those websites operating in China and Russia.

Does this Mean Cookies will Stay in Chrome?

This is hard to say. Cookies might stay in Chrome or cookies might still be on the chopping block. For the time being, cookies look to be here for the foreseeable future but head of Google’s Privacy sandbox had this to say “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. We’re discussing this new path with regulators, and will engage with the industry as we roll this out.” Safe to say, if this new feature takes off and if some timely payments are donated to regulator campaigns, the future of cookies for Chrome and for the internet is hanging on by a thread. However, that thread looks to be one made of the mythical mythril, so as far as digital advertisers are concerned, cookies are not going anywhere anytime soon.