In conjunction with the new design of Chrome, Google has begun rolling out its new advertising technology called “Privacy Sandbox,” which tracks web pages and generates a list of advertising topics shared with web pages upon request.
The platform has faced significant opposition but is still being released to the majority of Chrome users today. Google has attempted to downplay the launch by providing more information on privacysandbox.com rather than on its main page. Google claims that this is a step towards a more private web and is a better alternative to third-party cookies.
The technology behind privacy sandbox is called Topics API, and it’s a revised version of Floc (Federated Learning of Cohorts). Controls to disable the platform are now built into Chrome settings, accessible by going to chrome://settings/adPrivacy.
Google plans to block third-party cookies starting in the second half of 2024.
