In early 2021, Google announced the end of third-party cookies in Chrome. Mountain View giant by the end of the year old tracking cookies primarily by ad servers. Obviously, Google says it wants to improve the protection of consumer personal data in Chrome.
But unsurprisingly, Google doesn’t want to give up on online advertising. To compensate for the gradual loss of third-party cookies, the Californian group FLoC technology (Combined Learning of Cohorts or “federated cohort learning” in French).
Google enables FLoC technology in Chrome despite criticism
FLoC ad targeting model, designed to be more privacy friendly, use of user groups. Concretely, ads displayed online will no longer be based on third-party cookies, but on the group to which the user belongs. With this new approach, Google prevents advertisers from targeting Internet users individually, which is a plus when it comes to respecting privacy.
The icing on the cake offers FLoC technology a similar return on investment to third-party cookiessays Google. “IMMORTALITYWe believe that blocking third-party cookies without appropriate ecosystem alternatives is irresponsible and harmful to the free and open web we all love.” Marshall Vale, president of Privacy Sandbox, argues that these new web technologies aim to deliver advertising data to advertisers while respecting privacy.
Unfortunately, Google’s promises failed to convince everyone. This is especially true for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an international NGO for the protection of freedoms on the Internet. NGO provides this Google’s project is a terrible idea : “The technology will avoid the privacy risks of third-party cookies, but create new ones in the process. It can also make many of the worst privacy violation issues associated with behavioral advertising worse, including discrimination and predatory targeting..
“We strongly reject the future of FLoC. This is not the world we want or what users deserve. Google needs to learn from the era of third-party cookie tracking and develop its browser to work for users, not advertisers.” He encourages the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a statement on its website. The American NGO claims “a user’s group will always provide information about their behavior” to advertisers.
Still a few weeks ago Google active FLoC ad targeting from a handful of users. This first phase of the trial concerns Chrome users residing in several countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the United States. The search giant should soon test its alternative solution in Europe.
How do you know if Google has enabled FLoC targeting in your browser?
Determined to oppose the deployment of FLoC, the Electronic Frontier Foundation recently published: a website to find out if you’re an early adopter alternative to third-party cookies. official “Am I devastated?”the site pops up in a few minutes if you’re interested in the first phase of the experiment.
NGO regrets distributing Google’s alternative “Without warning and permission from millions of Chrome users”. In case your browser is part of the trial, Electronic Frontier Foundation recommends disabling Floc. For this, it is necessary to block third-party cookies in Chrome by following the following maneuver:
- see you on the menu Settings chromium
- click Privacy and security
- enter inside Cookies and other site data
- To choose Block third-party cookies
According to Google, Only 0.5% of Chrome users are part of the trial. “Original FLoC trial only affects Google Chrome 89 and later” Indicates the NGO’s site. If you are using a version older than Chrome 89, you are not affected. What do you think about Google’s apps? We welcome your feedback in the comments below.
