In a nutshell, the Topics API is a mechanism that allows the browser to observe and record topics (interest categories), while the Protected Audience API is a mechanism that allows the browser to perform on-device ad auctions on its own. Along with Topics API - more on it here - Protected Audience API allows advertisers to continue showing users ads based on their interests, without revealing their personal information or browsing history. The latter is the set of mechanisms that Google proposed several years ago and which it claims will make ad targeting more privacy-friendly. Protected Audience is another piece of the puzzle called Google’s Privacy Sandbox. What’s more, it’s already being implemented, albeit for the 1% of Chrome browsers. So Google tweaked FLEDGE, renamed it the Protected Audience API, and all indications are that this time it will stick. The search for an alternative was a tumultuous one indeed - the first proposed replacement, FLEDGE (short for First Locally-Executed Decision over Groups Experiment), flopped after everyone, especially ad tech companies, showed very little interest in adopting it. In other words, Google wanted to have it both ways, which is usually a tall order. The thing is, Google wanted to come up with a replacement that would still allow advertisers to target ads to users across websites, and be privacy-first at the same time. And for those in the know, this came as no surprise. What took (and still taking) Chrome so long?Īfter first promising to deprecate third-party or “tracking” cookies “in two years,” back in January 2020, Google has struggled to come up with an adequate replacement. But it’s the reason behind this extensive delay that interests us the most in the context of privacy. So for Chrome, the world’s most popular browser, to finally join that list is a big deal. And not just because the move will affect about 32 million people, which represents about 1% of Chrome’s 3.2 billion user base.Ĭhrome’s rivals like Firefox and Safari (and we’re not even talking about browsers like Brave and Tor, which have made privacy their number one priority) have long blocked third-party cookies by default. But it’s actually an important milestone. This may feel like a drop, or even a droplet, in the vast ocean. On January 4, 2024, just as the world rang in the New Year, Google announced that it had begun restricting third-party cookies by default for 1% of Chrome browsers.
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