What do we know about the goodbye of cookies? There is still a lot of material to cut, but let’s analyze the progress in this regard, why its elimination is being postponed again and how this reality affects users.
When will cookies disappear?
Much has been said about the elimination of third-party cookies from Google Chrome by the year 2023. However, the technological giant has decided to postpone the definitive cessation for another year, that is, by 2024, at least in appearance.
The main reason for this decision is that the IT industry has asked for more time to test the new Privacy Sandbox technologies. All this has brought with it a series of doubts among professional netizens and digital marketing companies, who have begun to speculate about it.
Until now, the only thing we know for sure is that it will be about alternatives tending to make a change in the way of acting. So, to find an option, the bet to fill the void left by Google’s famous cookies is already known as Privacy Sandbox.
This new initiative aims to create a prosperous and respectful ecosystem for the millions of users who work with Google and Google Chrome. The Privacy Sandbox system focuses on making anonymous groups without ever knowing the identity of the user.
The result is an equally valid formula so that all companies can continue to target their advertising, while the person keeps their privacy and their data hidden at all times.
Chances of deleting cookies in 2023?
The statements of Anthony Chávez, one of the spokespersons and vice president of Privacy Sandbox, are lapidary in this regard.
He commented that “ by the third quarter of 2023, we expect the Privacy Sandbox APIs to be released and generally available in Chrome. As developers adopt these APIs, our intention to begin phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome will be a reality in the second half of 2024. ”
On the other hand, according to an analysis carried out by the marketingdirecto.com portal, it is concluded that this new term proposed by Google may be an indicator that the company considers that there are not yet enough companies that have begun the transition to an alternative model. without cookies.
Understanding Google: Third-party cookies
In principle, the so-called Google third-party cookies make up a series of files generated by Internet pages that are visited by any Internet user.
They collect navigation information to make your experience on the information superhighway much easier and faster.
Using cookies, these online sites can, for example, maintain the user’s free access to them, remember their search preferences, but, above all, offer important content locally.
These cookies in Google are usually used with this main and specific mission of serving as reminders and optimizing the experience of people connected online.
However, that information that is “saved “, such as browsing history, for example, can also be used by advertising companies to increase their sales, or traffic to a specific digital site. Cookies are used for one thing or another depending on the type we are talking about.
How to activate or delete third-party cookies in Chrome
To enable cookies, or delete cookies, there is a procedure for each purpose. When using a Google account in a browser like Chrome or Safari, you need to activate them.
In this sense, it is very important that, at the moment of receiving a message or notification that tells us that cookies are deactivated, it is necessary to activate them again to use an account correctly, easily, and quickly.
The first thing is to open Chrome. Then, press the cursor in the upper right corner, click on the “More ” section, and then repeat this action in “Privacy and Security ” and, the rest, in “ Settings ”.
Instead, to delete cookies, we click “ Turn off cookies ” and do the same in the option “ Allow sites to save and read cookie data ” in Google Chrome.
Google and cookies: accept or reject them?
Given that cookies are the melting pot where all personal data about the user’s search habits and preferences are stored, these files can represent a threat to your security, since it is possible there are violations of some of these data, theft of information, or generate unwanted advertising.
That said, and to prevent this from happening, it is best to know what types of cookies exist, how to inform us about their correct use, the digital site, and what are the requirements to comply with data protection regulations, among other things.
Types of cookies
There are several types of cookies based on several categories. On the one hand, and depending on the entity that manages them, we can distinguish our cookies, which are those generated by the website itself and whose essential function is to improve the user‘s search and browsing experience.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned third-party cookies in Chrome, or third-party cookies in Google, are those that are sent from a computer or domain other than that of the online site visited.
Also, from the point of view of their purpose, Google cookies can be classified as technical cookies or, in other words, those that allow the user to navigate through a website or application.
These cookies are intended to exercise control over traffic, data communication, access other than that which is already restricted, etc. In short, they improve the functioning of the online page.
For their part, analysis or measurement cookies collect information on user behavior, to introduce improvements based on the analysis of the usage data they make.
Those preferences or personalization, allow access to the service with certain general characteristics that differentiate you from other users. For example, geolocation, language, browser type, etc.
Finally, we have behavioral advertising cookies, which are responsible for collecting a series of data about user behavior by observing their browsing habits. In this way, they can create specific profiles to show each user a particular advertisement.
The fate of Google cookies
Knowing what will happen in the short term with third-party cookies in Google and their possible elimination in 2023 or 2024 seems to be very soon, but we can have something clear.
The time has come for publishers and tech entrepreneurs around the planet to take control of their destiny and move from identity-based on cookies to identity-based on individuals, on flesh and blood human beings.
