As Google prepares to remove third-party tracking cookies from its Chrome browser later this year, publishers, advertisers, and the UK Competition & Markets Authority are giving their proposed replacement — Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” ad system — a closer look.
Many don’t like what they’re seeing.
Google is developing Sandbox under a set of legally binding “commitments” intended to ensure that Google doesn’t abuse its dominant position in the online ad market. It can only introduce Sandbox once the CMA has signed off on the final product.
The CMA recently threatened to ban the company from implementing Sandbox entirely: “Google cannot proceed with third-party cookie deprecation until our concerns are resolved,” the CMA said in its most recent report on Sandbox. It wants “to ensure that Google does not use the tools in a way that self-preferences its own advertising services.” Currently, the CMA believes that Google is working to comply with its requirements: “Based on the available evidence, we consider that [in the most recent reporting period], Google has complied with the Commitments”.
Publisher cookies currently underpin much programmatic advertising revenue by allowing marketers to better target their messages at readers based on their interest and behaviour.
Sandbox Topics: Clunky and gives control to Google
The CMA is specifically worried about one aspect of Sandbox, named “Topics”.
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The Topics system allows advertisers to target readers via a new function in their Chrome browsers which will track the most recent themes those users have shown an interest in. For instance, if an advertiser wants to reach users interested in “sport”, any publisher using Topics will be able to show an ad to any user if “sport” was one of the user’s top five browsing interests of the