Google ‘confident’ third-party cookie alternatives are right for ads and privacy

Some publishers have concerns about the move (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Google has said it is confident that proposals to scrap third-party cookies on Chrome are right for the web despite questions about the impact it could have on sites dependent on them for revenue.

The tech giant is pressing ahead with the move despite concerns from publishers and an ongoing investigation by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regulator.

Google has now set out a number of alternatives that it believes is the best way forward for advertising without tracking users’ behaviour across the web.

We are really more confident than ever this is the best path to improve privacy for web users and ensure an ad-supported web

Chetna Bindra, Google

Improving privacy has been the main argument for the move – known as the Privacy Sandbox project – since it was first revealed a year ago.

The firm wants to phase out support for third-party cookies by 2022, in line with other internet browsers, but online publishers such as newspapers are concerned this could distort competition and create a “Google-owned walled garden”.

Speaking to press on Monday, Chetna Bindra, Google’s group product manager of user trust and privacy, said: “We are really more confident than ever this is the best path to improve privacy for web users and ensure an ad-supported web.”

One of the ideas the company is pursing, known as FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts), groups users who have similar browsing behaviours, essentially hiding individuals within a crowd.

Testing is set to begin in March, though the firm stresses that no final decision has yet been made.

Google said such changes will also impact its own advertising products.