Google axed Cookies from Chrome, developed the Privacy Sandbox, reversed its decision on Cookies and canned the Sandbox
Chrome’s huge market share in mobile and desktop has not been diminished by this
The Privacy Sandbox would move ad selection and data processing to the user’s browser and device instead of having the third-party trackers send individual user data to their servers across the web. Last year Google decided not to phase out the use of third-party cookies, and it now has stopped the six-year-old Privacy Sandbox project. While the project was introduced in 2019, the core advertising technology has been in use for just a bit over two years.
Despite Chrome users once again facing the strong possibility of being tracked and served personalized ads, Chrome’s huge market share is expected to stay steady. Right now, the browser owns more than 70% of the markets in both mobile and desktop. The only thing making some Chrome execs a little worried is possible competition from AI browsers such as Perplexity’s Comet and one eagerly awaited AI browser from ChatGPT parent Open AI. The Privacy Sandbox tools that Google is getting rid of include:
- Attribution Reporting API for both Chrome and Android
- IP Protection
- On-Device Personalization
- Private Aggregation
- Protected Audience API for Chrome and Android
- Protected App Signals
- Related Website Sets
- SelectURL
- SDK Runtime
- Topics for Chrome and Android, Google’s experiment in interest-based rather than identity-based advertising
An API, or Application Programming Interface is like a middleman that allows two separate software interfaces to communicate with each other and share data. The process is similar to how a restaurant is run. Consider an app seeking data to be like a customer who gives the waiter his order. The waiter is the API who takes the order and gives it to the kitchen which is the server in this analogy. The kitchen prepares the food and gives it to the waiter. The waiter serves the food to the customer just like the API serves data to an app.
Why Google cancelled the Privacy Sandbox
A Google spokesman said, “We will be continuing our work to improve privacy across Chrome, Android and the web, but moving away from the Privacy Sandbox branding. We’re grateful to everyone who contributed to this initiative and will continue to collaborate with the industry to develop and advance platform technologies that help support a healthy and thriving web.”
Google cited “low levels of adoption” and feedback that the technologies weren’t providing sufficient value for ending the Privacy Sandbox.
