Google will block individual advertiser identifiers

Google wants to stop tracking users individually within a few years. The company says that all unique identifiers will be removed once third-party cookies are phased out. These are both trackers from Google itself and from other advertisers.

In this way, Google no longer wants to track people individually across different websites, the company writes in a blog post. Google also says it will not make alternative identifiers to track people. It will therefore no longer be possible for third-party advertisers to use such identifiers in Google products. Google doesn’t name specific products, but talks about all the software the company makes.

The stopping of the identifiers will happen “as soon as third party cookies are phased out,” writes Google. The company said in January last year that this should happen “within two years”, although no firm deadline has yet been set. Stopping third party cookies is part of Privacy Sandbox, a series of proposals Google made in 2020. Privacy Sandbox consists of multiple measures and open web standards that allow users to remain anonymous but still see relevant advertisements. For example, there are APIs that measure click conversion and a budget to combat fingerprinting.

Google says that this includes stopping first party identifiers. Google wants to significantly change the advertising model of the Internet. “72 percent of users feel that everything they do online is being followed by advertisers and technology companies. If the digital advertising industry doesn’t address those growing concerns, we risk losing the free and open web,” writes David Temkin of the company in the blog post.

The company also prohibits alternative tracking methods outside of cookies. These are, for example, ways to track someone via their e-mail address. Still, according to Google, there are ways in which websites can advertise in a targeted manner. The company cites “advancements in aggregation, anonymization, on-device processing and other privacy-preserving technologies.” With this, Google hopes that from now on advertisers will mainly use the Privacy Sandbox techniques that it offers itself. Privacy Sandbox is not undisputed. The British market watchdog started an investigation into it in January.