Last week, Google announcement that it will stop supporting third-party cookies over the next two years, rendering them obsolete in Chrome by 2022. The move is neither unprecedented nor unexpected, but nonetheless, has rocked the advertising world.
Cookies are a key tool used by online marketers to track potential customers as they browse the internet. They allow advertisers to target users with ads for websites they visited in the past and keep track of which, if any, ad finally results in a purchase.
Google’s announcement about Chrome comes after Apple Inc.’s Safari and Mozilla Corp.’s Firefox browsers have already blocked third-party cookies. However, since most internet users surf the web with Chrome, Google’s decision is the one that will cause a huge industry shift. But to what, we don’t yet know.
The fate of cookies has been in question for some time due to greater privacy concerns on behave of the consumer. Users are demanding more privacy, and this is a step toward meeting those demands. It is unlikely, however, that this will be the end of targeted advertising. Google has already proposed changes that would prevent personal information from being passed along to advertisers, but would allow tracking to continue, while other industry segments, such as the connected TV market, already rely on newer identity solutions.
Sources: Bloomberg
