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As of January 4, 2024, Google introduced 1% of Chrome users to Tracking Protection. The new feature is designed to stop websites from communicating with each other about your online behavior via third-party cookies. The update affects your browsing experience and how advertisers interact with you and your data.
Keep reading to learn more about what Tracking Protection does, how to manage your cookies and data today, and why premium ad blockers help protect your online experience.
Web cookies are small text files containing unique data that identifies your browsing sessions. Any time you visit a website, it gives you a cookie that your device stores. The next time you visit the same website, it uses the cookie to remember you and load a personalized online experience.
However, some web cookies, or internet cookies, go beyond creating a helpful browsing experience. Third-party cookies are used for advertising purposes and are frequently controversial. It's a cookie that tracks your behavior and can easily invade your data privacy.
Google Chrome wants to disable third-party cookies with its latest update. Keep in mind that first-party cookies and session cookies are left alone. These types of cookies are often useful and essential for browsing the internet. Let's take a further look at the different types of cookies:
Session cookies help websites know what pages you've visited in the past, so it doesn't have to reload information every time you visit a new page. It's extremely useful for online shopping. Session cookies can remember when you've added an item to your cart. As you continue browsing or go to check out, session cookies can remember the items you selected. Basically, session cookies allow websites to have a memory.
First-party cookies are from websites you visit and are used only for user engagement. It can help remember your preferences, like language settings. It's also used to collect analytics data, so websites can provide functional and informative pages.
Third-party cookies track your behavior and collect information about you. It's often done without your consent since third-party cookies are hidden in places like the Facebook "Like" button on a website. The data is frequently used for sales and marketing strategies like personalized ads.
While some people may like ads personalized to their tastes (after all, maybe an ad is where you discovered your favorite hiking boots), others don't like the clandestine collection of their data.
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Tracking Protection’s default setting will automatically limit third-party cookies while you're using the internet. It makes it easier for you to manage your data while restricting the way advertisers get your information. Considering that 40% of internet users blindly accept cookies, it may empower you to take more control of your data.
Google Chrome's Tracking Protection feature is meant to improve user privacy by giving users more control over how websites use their data. The default setting limits third-party cookies, but users can customize their experience by allowing third-party cookies for certain sites. Essentially, allowing users to have more control over their data can enhance their online privacy.
Third-party cookies have been the key to online advertising for the past three decades. With Google Chrome’s new Tracking Protection, advertisers will have to find another way to reach new audiences online. The new strategies may involve shifting focus to first-party data or implementing Google's Privacy Sandbox initiative (more on that later).
If you aren't part of the lucky 1% currently using Tracking Protection, you can still enable or disable cookies on Google Chrome. To do it manually, you need to follow these steps:
Note that these tips work whether you use a Windows computer, Mac, Android, or iOS device.
Some sites don't work without third-party cookies, and you can make exemptions for certain websites. Simply click on the eye icon to the right of the web address. Then enable third-party cookies for the site.
The primary drive behind disabling cookies was to meet users' desire for more privacy online. One survey found that 68% of surveyed U.S. adults are concerned about the level of data collected by businesses.[1] In response, browsers like Safari and Firefox block third-party cookies by default.
Google Chrome is following the trend of blocking third-party cookies. As Chrome meets the demand for user privacy, it's more likely that it will remain the most-used web browser. But before phasing out third-party cookies, Google needed to create an alternative for non-essential cookies.
Ads aren't going anywhere. For starters, it's a significant part of Google's income. In Q3 2023, 77.8% of Google's overall revenue came from advertising.[2] Personalized ads are a crucial part of the internet money-making machine. So Google needs a way to create personalized ads without users giving up their privacy.
The Privacy Sandbox initiative is Google's answer to creating targeted ads without using third-party cookies. It uses techniques like differential privacy and k-anonymity to collect information about user behavior without identifying which users contributed to the dataset. It ensures user privacy while still providing a way to share relevant content and ads with them.
The Privacy Sandbox initiative is crucial to Google's plan to replace third-party cookies. The goal is to protect users’ privacy while giving websites a platform to earn money. While it's still a work in progress, the Privacy Sandbox has key proposals such as:
While these proposals can limit the sharing of information between websites, you will still have some data tracked. Some of these cookies and tracking features are essential for functionality.
Ultimately, you will still see ads. But third-party cookies aren't used to create them, which is a step toward enhanced user privacy.
Google plans on rolling out this Tracking Protection initiative to everyone by the end of 2024. But in the meantime, 99% of Google Chrome users will need to manually manage their privacy settings if they want to block non-essential cookies.
You can avoid internet tracking and keep your online activities private by staying proactive. Here are a few ways to take control of your data:
A private search engine helps you stay anonymous online. It won't collect data like your IP address, search terms, browser history, cookies, or location. It also won't install cookies, so your browsing will be more private. Some popular private search engines include:
Browser extensions are another way to safely block tracking cookies and keep your online data safe. Select extensions even offer ad blocking as part of their services. Some privacy-focused extensions you may want to consider include:
The new Google Chrome update doesn't stop ads from appearing online. Ad blockers are a useful tool for removing ads from your browsing experience. Ad-blocking software can also help block tracking cookies.
Some of the best ad blockers for Chrome include:
The benefits of cookies for users include ensuring a smooth browsing experience. Cookies can help you stay logged into an account, keep track of what items you put in a shopping cart, and enable other functionality. Cookies are also responsible for sharing relevant content and ads based on your browsing history.
If you aren't currently using Tracking Protection, you can manually check if Chrome has enabled cookies. Go into the browser's settings and select Privacy and security. Select Third-party cookies to check if cookies are enabled. Opt to disable cookies if that’s your preference. You can then clear cookies on Chrome for a faster browsing experience.
You can enable cookies on Google Chrome by going into your browser's privacy settings. Select Privacy and security and click on Third-party cookies to enable it. Alternatively, you can click the eye icon on the right of the web address to enable cookies for only that website.
Setting cookies on your browser will look slightly different depending on your provider. You can check out our guide on how to manage cookies on every browser to find specific instructions. Generally speaking, you must alter the browser's privacy settings to set cookies.
Unblocking cookies is possible, though the exact step-by-step instructions vary depending on your browser. Check out our guide on how to manage cookies on every browser to discover what you need to do.
Third-party cookies are going to be phased out by the end of 2024, based on Google's current timeline. Eventually, only essential cookies and first-party data will remain on the browser. This is great news for privacy advocates but not so much for advertisers. Online advertisers will need to adapt by using first-party data and the Privacy Sandbox initiative to display relevant ads.
However, the new Google Chrome update doesn't block ads entirely. Ads are still the same but packaged and delivered in a more privacy-focused way. If you want to block all ads from your browsing experience, you should consider investing in premium ad blockers. Ad blocker software and extensions can block ads and other tracking cookies to protect your privacy.
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