More than one antitrust regulator is circling around Google. On Friday, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority published a statement of objection to Google’s ad tech practices.
An ex-Googler asks: Has the commitment to perfection over progress led to the current state of play for the Privacy Sandbox and harmed the industry’s opportunity to provide better consumer privacy?
A group of 20 web app developers sent a letter to the CMA claiming the regulator’s proposed remedies for increasing competition among mobile browsers do not address barriers to entry for mobile web extensions on iOS and Android.
Recent moves by major ad tech players prove the industry doesn’t actually need cookies. But Chrome’s cookie pivot doesn’t clarify what will happen to the 1% of its audience that’s already cookieless or what will become of plans to deprecate the Android Ad ID on mobile.
By reversing its position on third-party cookie deprecation, Google’s is acknowledging its inability to effectively execute its plans for the Privacy Sandbox. It’s time Google commits to competing with the rest of the industry rather than dictating terms.
If Chrome imitates Apple, there may be a de facto deprecation of the third-party cookies, since potentially only a slim percentage of users would consent to tracking. In that case, advertisers would still have to primarily rely on cookie alternatives, including the Privacy Sandbox.
Keep the cookies; hold for consent. We unpack Google’s reversal on third-party cookies and what it means for the ad industry, which was preparing for a cookieless future.
Google appears to have thrown regulators for a loop with its surprise announcement on Monday that it no longer plans to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome.
Debrief on the CMA’s biggest issues with the Privacy Sandbox highlighted in its latest report. Then, a vibe check on the Newfronts.
In today’s newsletter: The CMA still has a bone to pick with the Chrome Privacy Sandbox; the FCC fines mobile carriers for selling customer location data to data brokers; and the Financial Times is the latest publisher to strike a licensing deal with an AI company.
