FLoC Paused: Google Postpones Removal of Third-Party Cookies on Chrome to 2023

Four technologies as part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative are currently being tested.

Google has postponed the much anticipated — and dreaded — withdrawal of third-party cookies in Chrome to mid-2023. The tech giant has delayed the decision amid pushback from regulators and the advertising industry. Google had first announced its Privacy SandboxOpens a new window initiative in August 2019. It then announced the removal of its support to third-party cookiesOpens a new window in January 2020, with an implementation date of 2022.

Early last year, the tech giant said in its blog post, “Users are demanding greater privacy, including transparency, choice and control over how their data is used.” It also cited that a few other browsers had already taken this step. In its blog postOpens a new window last week, Google said, “more time is needed across the ecosystem to get this right”. It further said, “we need to move at a responsible pace. This will allow sufficient time for public discussion on the right solutions, continued engagement with regulators, and for publishers and the advertising industry to migrate their services.”

Also read: Why Brands Should Celebrate the End of Third-Party Cookies

The 2-Stage Implementation Process

For Chrome, Google aims to have its key technologies deployed in the form of APIs by the later part of 2022 so that the developers can start adopting them. This stage will last for nine months, during which publishers and advertisers can make the switch. In the second stage, Chrome may begin discontinuing third-party cookies over three months, starting in mid-2023 and ending in late 2023.

At the moment, Chrome has offered more than 30 proposals and is testing four out of them in what it terms “key areas”. These key areas include ad measurement, fraud detection, ad relevance and content. One such trial is that of the Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC).

Privacy Sandbox and FLoC

The Privacy Sandbox initiative by Google aims to develop web technologies that safeguard people’s privacy online as well as provide developers and companies the necessary tools to build digital businesses to keep the web accessible to everyone. The new technologies being developed as part of this initiative aim to prevent tracking as users browse the web, enable publishers to develop sustainable websites that respect user privacy and preserve the vitality of the web. These technologies are intended to replace data-intensive mechanisms, such as third-party cookies, with safer solutions.

One technology proposed as part of this initiative is FLoC. FLoC allows advertisers to use behavioral targeting instead of third-party cookies. The technology will run in Chrome and track users’ online behaviors. It then assigns that browser history an identifier and adds it to a group of browsers having similar behaviors called a “cohort”. According to Google, FLoC will enable “interest-based advertising” on the web without advertisers knowing the users’ individual identity; they will just know the behaviors of the people in the cohort.

A user’s cohort IDs are recalculated every week, providing a new summary of their online behavior. According to Google, as there are thousands of people in a cohort, it will not be possible for advertisers to pick out a single user and associate them with their unique browsing data.

The Case for and Against FLoC

According to Google, FLoC allows advertisers to run personalized ads without collecting individual data. Google also says that cohorts with highly sensitive content will not be used. For example, if someone visits a medical, religious, or political website often, that information will not be used to add them to the cohort.

However, not everyone is keen on it. In its blog post, the Electronic Frontier Foundation(EFF) saysOpens a new window , “That framing is based on a false premise that we have to choose between old tracking and new tracking. It’s not either-or. Instead of re-inventing the tracking wheel, we should imagine a better world without the myriad problems of targeted ads.”

Mozilla, too, said that it would not adopt FLoC though it is looking at other advertising options that preserve data privacy. Browsers like Brave and Vivaldi will not implement it as FLoC will not protect data privacy. In its blog post, Brave saidOpens a new window , “The worst aspect of FLoC is that it materially harms user privacy, under the guise of being privacy-friendly.” It also discusses in detail the problems with FLoC.

Besides these, experts say that FLoC creates new privacy concerns, such as fingerprinting and cross-context exposure.

Also read: How Can Marketers Adapt To a Cookieless Future in 2021: Merkle Releases New Data

Industry Reaction to Google’s Announcement

The news of Google delaying the phasing out of third-party cookies on Chrome has been welcomed by professionals in the advertising industry. For example, Lani Jamieson, head of client solutions, APAC, Matterkind, saidOpens a new window , “No doubt many in the industry breathed a collective sigh of relief with Google’s latest announcement to delay the deprecation of third-party cookies to late 2023. It’s evident all parties within the ecosystem need more time to build robust alternative solutions, but more importantly to onboard and test these to ensure they are viable and scalable enough to mitigate impacts, whilst still driving advertising effectiveness.”

Eric Seufert, an analyst at Mobile Dev Memo, saidOpens a new window , “Google’s decision to postpone the deprecation of third-party cookies is not unexpected, given the vigorous repudiation it received from privacy advocates.”

At the same time, many also express caution.

For example, Rob HallOpens a new window , CEO, Playground XYZ, saidOpens a new window , “I feel they’re all missing the point: we need to depart from the reliance on third-party cookies as soon as possible because consumers have made their position crystal clear: they don’t want to be tracked around the internet. The fact that Google has delayed these changes due to the ad industry not being ready shouldn’t be met with relief. It should be met with a humble acknowledgement that, if you’re still reliant on third-party cookies, you’re increasingly behind the times.”

Similarly, Kevin Joyner, director of data solutions, Croudy, said, “Don’t let Google’s announcement lull you into a false sense of security. Google has not paused the GDPR. Safari and Firefox still exist, and have the same significant user base. Mobile and therefore iOS isn’t any less important. Digital attribution is still flawed and unreliable on its own. Automation is still levelling the advertising playing field, and so you still need to activate first-party data to continue to compete. All your “cookieless” plans are still needed, and the future is still coming.”

Also read: As Third-Party Cookies Perish, Companies Should Focus on the Right Operating Models, Technology, and Data: Merkle

The Inevitable Is Just Postponed, Not Abandoned

While it is undoubtedly a relief for most advertisers that Google has delayed its move to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome, this is just a breather. Data privacy is of paramount importance, and hence, it is inevitable that most forms of user tracking, including third-party cookies, will cease to exist. Therefore, the industry should take this opportunity to explore alternate ways to target users ethically.

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