Google says won't use other web tracking tools after phasing out cookies

Criteo SA (Pre-Reincorporation)

03/03/2021 14:00

By Sheila Dang
    March 3 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's  GOOGL.O  Google will not
build or use alternate tools to track web browsing traffic once
it begins phasing out existing technology from its Chrome
browser next year, it said in a blog post on Wednesday, in a
move that will reshape how online advertising works.
    Google first announced it would get rid of third-party
cookies, which for decades has enabled online ads, early last
year to meet growing data privacy standards in Europe and the
United States. 
    Privacy activists for years have criticized tech companies
including Google for using cookies to gather web browsing
records across websites they don't own, enabling them to develop
profiles on users' interests to serve personalized ads.
    Now, Google is pledging it will not use other technology to
replace the cookie or build features inside Chrome to allow
itself access to that data, though it continues to test ways for
businesses to target ads to large groups of anonymous users with
common interests.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2L026Y
    "Keeping the internet open and accessible for everyone
requires all of us to do more to protect privacy — and that
means an end to not only third-party cookies, but also any
technology used for tracking individual people as they browse
the web," Google said in the blog post. 
    Rival advertising tech companies are building tools to
identify users across the web anonymously, including Criteo SA
 CRTO.O  and The Trade Desk  TTD.O . 
    Shares of both companies dropped in January 2020 immediately
after Google first announced it would eliminate cookies, but
have risen consistently over the past year.

 (Reporting by Sheila Dang
Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
 ((Sheila.Dang@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-983-0894))