Google made a large announcement last week regarding its very popular Internet browser, Google Chrome.
With an eye toward user privacy and following the lead of Apple and Mozilla, Google announced that it will “phase out” Cookie tracking within Chrome.
For a quick technology lesson, Cookies were created to help website store data for a particular user within the browser, making persistent logins, saved shopping carts, and site search history possible. It also enabled advertising tracking by allowing ad networks to track a user across multiple websites and domains.
It’s ad tracking that privacy advocates have worked against, mostly because until recently, there was no way to effectively “opt-out” of this tracking, not without having clear delete a site, or all saved Cookies. Most browsers have made this easier, but it often requires a proactive and informed user to enable.
Billions of dollars in online advertising revenue is largely dependent on Cookies and knowing who you are, the device you’re using, and where you’re visiting or may visit the website. Google knows there’s a lot at risk here, especially for their own ad networks.
By providing a rough timeline, Google hopes a partnership between advertising agencies, engineers, and Google itself work on an alternative solution for effective advertising that is acceptable for privacy concerns.
For now companies should monitor and evaluate advertising budgets. Because there is no immediate impact, advertising managers should partner with their ad agencies to identify potential annual campaigns or initiatives which may need to adjust KPIs.
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