Tracking Protection: Chrome Feature and the End of Cookies

Understand Google’s new feature and its role in ending the availability of third-party cookies in the browser.

Starting today, January 4, Google made the new Tracking Protection tool available to 1% of global Chrome users. From this launch, companies that rely on third-party cookies will be able to test their readiness for a web without third-party cookies. This is an important step in Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, one of the main goals of which is to phase out third-party cookies by the second half of 2024.

To participate, 1% of Chrome users globally will be chosen at random. If you are chosen, you will receive a notification when you open your browser on desktop or Android.

What is Tracking Protection?

Tracking Protection is a Chrome feature that allows users to block third parties from tracking their online activities. Third parties are companies that are not the website the user is visiting, but which can collect data about that user, such as their visits to other websites, their purchases and their searches.

Impact of Tracking Protection in relation to third-party cookies

Third-party cookies are small files that are stored on your computer or mobile device by third-party websites with the aim of mapping your online browsing and, from this, building a profile of your browsing and consumption. This data allows companies to use the information to create detailed profiles of your interests and behaviors that can be used to target personalized ads, customize the browsing experience of a website, among others.

The launch of the new version of Tracking Protection will have a significant impact on the way companies advertise online, as it will extend the limitation on the information that can be collected. This move could allow companies to see what needs to be adapted so that their sites continue to work properly before the end of cookies in Chrome, scheduled for the end of 2024.

What is Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative?

According to the initiative’s website, the Privacy Sandbox aims to create technologies that protect people’s privacy online and provide companies and developers with tools to build thriving digital businesses. The Privacy Sandbox reduces tracking between websites and applications, while helping to keep online content and services free for everyone. See some of the solutions under development below:

• Topics API: An idea that proposes an API to allow websites to declare specific content topics, enabling more effective personalization of ads based on the context of the content rather than individual browsing.
• Private State Tokens: This is a proposal that aims to create tokens that indicate a user’s trustworthiness without revealing specific information about that user’s identity. These tokens can help combat fraudulent activity and online abuse.
• Related Website Sets: This approach allows websites to declare sets of domains that are considered “first-party”, allowing browsers to treat these domains as a single entity for tracking purposes. This helps maintain tracking continuity within a set of related domains.
• Attribution Reporting API: Proposed To allow advertisers to place relevant ads and study their effectiveness in a privacy-preserving way. It will replace third-party cookies with new measurement and reporting tools that will prevent people from being identified across different websites. This includes several interconnected proposals.

To find out about other solutions being developed by the initiative, visit the website here.

Do you have any questions or need guidance on how to adapt your company’s data and marketing strategy to the reality without third-party cookies? Contact DP6 and start your transition to the post-cookie era now. DP6 can help you adapt your company’s reality to the best digital strategies. Talk to one of our consultants.

Profile of the Author: Laís Tavares | Passionate about turning data into business insights. She has a bachelor’s degree in Advertising from the University of Fortaleza, an MBA in Business Management and Market Intelligence from Saint Paul and is specializing in Big Data analysis and Data Engineering at FIA Business School. Currently a Business Analyst at DP6.