Anthony Chavez, Google’s Vice President of Privacy, in December 2023 revealed plans to take further action in phasing out third-party cookies within Chrome. This through an upcoming product update for its widely-used internet browser. Google has doubled down and made this a default option to 1% of Chrome users as of 4th January. Quickly followed by a global rollout. In this blog post, we delve into the implications for you as a user, as a business owner, or as a customer. Spoiler alert – we do not think it’s good news!
The Basics
Who uses Google Chrome?
Google Chrome has consistently been one of the most popular web browsers worldwide, commanding a significant share of the market. Its market share varies depending on the source and region, but it generally hovers around 60-70% globally.
In terms of popularity by region, Google Chrome is particularly dominant in North America, Europe, and many parts of Asia. However, its usage can vary from country to country and even regionally within countries.
The reasons for Chrome’s popularity include its speed, user-friendly interface, frequent updates, robust features, and seamless integration with other Google services. Additionally, Google Chrome’s availability across multiple platforms, including desktop, mobile, and tablet devices, contributes to its widespread usage.
What are Cookies?
Cookies are small pieces of data that websites store on a user’s computer or device. These data files contain information about the user’s interactions with the website, such as login credentials, preferences, browsing history, and other settings.
Cookies serve several purposes:
- Session Management: Cookies help websites recognise users and maintain their logged-in status as they navigate different pages during a browsing session.
- Personalisation: Websites use cookies to remember user preferences, such as language settings, font size, and customised layouts.
- Tracking and Analytics: Cookies enable website owners and advertisers to track user behavior, analyze website traffic, and gather demographic information for marketing and advertising purposes.
- Authentication and Security: Cookies are used for authentication purposes, helping websites verify the identity of users and secure sensitive information, such as online banking transactions.
Overall, cookies play a crucial role in enhancing user experience and functionality on the web. There are concerns about privacy and data tracking which have prompted increased scrutiny and regulation around their usage.
How will this affect me?
If you disable or block cookies in your web browser, your online experience may be hindered in a few ways:
As a User;
- Loss of Personalisation: Many websites use cookies to remember your preferences, such as language settings, customised layouts, and theme choices. Without cookies, you may need to manually set these preferences each time you visit a site.
- No Saved Login Information: Cookies often store login credentials, allowing you to stay logged in during a browsing session. Without cookies, you would need to enter your username and password each time you access a site.
- Limited Session Management: Cookies help with session management, allowing websites to recognize you as you navigate different pages within the site. Without cookies, websites might not remember your session state, leading to disruptions or repeated logins.
- Impaired Shopping Experience: E-commerce websites use cookies to store items in your shopping cart, remember your chosen delivery preferences, and provide a more seamless checkout process. Disabling cookies may result in a less efficient and user-friendly shopping experience.
- Reduced Personalized Content: Cookies are commonly used to track your online behavior and serve personalized content, such as targeted advertisements or recommended articles. Disabling cookies may result in less relevant and personalised content.
As an Advertiser;
- Generic Advertisements: Without cookies, advertisers may not be able to track your browsing behavior and interests effectively. As a result, you may see more generic or less relevant advertisements that are not tailored to your preferences and interests.
- Lack of Retargeting: Advertisers often use cookies to track users who have visited their websites or shown interest in their products or services. This allows them to deliver targeted advertisements to users across different websites and platforms. Without cookies, advertisers may not be able to retarget you with relevant ads based on your past interactions.
- Limited Ad Personalization: Cookies enable advertisers to collect data about your browsing history, demographics, and interests, which they use to personalize advertisements and offers. Without cookies, advertisers may have limited information about your preferences and may not be able to personalise ads effectively.
- Reduced Frequency Cap Control: Cookies help advertisers control the frequency of ad impressions that users see over a certain period. Without cookies, advertisers may have difficulty managing ad frequency, which could result in users being bombarded with the same ads repeatedly.
- Ineffective Ad Campaign Measurement: Cookies are often used for tracking the effectiveness of advertising campaigns by measuring user engagement, click-through rates, and conversion metrics. Disabling cookies may make it challenging for advertisers to accurately measure the performance of their campaigns and optimise them accordingly.
- Limited Analytics for Website Owners: For website owners, cookies are essential for tracking visitor analytics, understanding user behavior, and improving website performance. Without this data, it becomes challenging for them to optimise and enhance the user experience.
But what about Privacy, isn’t that really important?
Yeah, cookies can make things smoother online, but hey, they’ve got their privacy issues too. That’s why web browsers and regulators are trying to give folks more say over their cookie settings and privacy settings. But you know, there are always a few troublemakers who mess things up for everyone else! Most of us advertisers aren’t out there stalking people; we just want to show our stuff to folks who might be interested in buying from us. But how can you find the good guys vs the bad guys? You cannot!
So aren’t Google, like solving the Problem?
You know, just my two cents, but it seems like they’re pulling a classic move—turning monopoly into a selling point. Remember when Apple did that thing to Meta (it’s Facebook for all you Boomers) by clamping down on app tracking? It cost Meta a cool $10 billion. Now Google’s snatching up all the data while everyone else gets the short end of the stick. It’s like they’re playing a different game altogether.
I have little faith Google will let go of all the data they have and will continue to collect to enhance their products and provide crumbs of information to us. If anything, it will just make Advertisers have to pivot on Google platforms. From Google Analytics, to Google Ads, to Google Tag Manager to anything else that starts with the word Google. Except for Google+ that social media junk is dead for good.
Do you have any more questions or you do not agree with our analysis? We are happy to hear your feedback!
