Google, in an unprecedented move, has decided to reduce the number of cookies that they send to websites. This reduction is planned for websites that Google does not operate. They plan to constrict the advertising companies primarily from connecting to and using Google Chrome’s cookies. This means that advertisers might not be able to make use of these tracking tools to understand the user’s favorites and preferences.
A cookie is a word that denotes data generated by the website itself. It is a small amount of data generated by any website the user visits. This information is used to personalize your experience on the website, and in many other ways. Most commonly, cookies are used to store login details so that the user might autofill the data at a later stage as required. They are also instrumental in remembering your search parameters, your e-commerce preferences and such.
As proven, cookies are very useful to a user in daily life. However, the cookies can also be used by the website itself for harmful purposes. The data saved on a website is in the hand of its developer. This is to say, all your credentials and such data are in the hand of the website owners. If they are up to nefarious deeds, the data could also be misused.
Another point of contention is the fact that data protection laws across the world are not in effect. Even in the countries that do have laws in place, the policy around cookies is not clear thereby making it possible for browsers to exploit the loopholes regarding user’s data.
While Apple’s Safari has made a similar move back in 2017, Google obviously controls more market share. It is estimated that Chrome controls about 64% of the browser shares, according to the tracking company Statcounter.
This move by Google does not come as a surprise. The industry has been expecting this news for a while. However, financial analysts do not foresee any problem with Google advertising business revenue-wise. This is because Google has many ways of gathering data from its users outside of the browser cookies.
Google has informed that it does not plan to put this strategy into effect straight away. Google said that this constriction of cookies will not happen and will not be put in force until other strategies that can preserve privacy exists. Google plans on exhausting these strategies before going ahead with restricting the cookies.
