As Google tests out its replacement for third-party cookies, the Federated Learning of Cohorts, the company has faced a lot of scrutinies for the initiative. Now, some regulators in the EU are raising concerns about FLoC as well that could spell trouble for the future of Google’s initiative.
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Controversy rages on around Google’s Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) initiative as various tech companies take a stance on the tech that could replace third-party cookies for targeted online advertising. This week, WordPress announced a proposal that would turn FLoC off by default on all websites powered by its Content Management System.
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After Google started rolling out FLoC to some Chrome users as a replacement for third-party cookies, the technology has become rather controversial. Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, and Mozilla Firefox have confirmed they don’t have immediate plans to adopt FLoC.
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In an effort to phase out third-party cookies, Google has been advancing the rollout of FLoC for placing targeted ads on websites. This week, though, the Chromium-based and privacy-focused browsers Brave and Vivaldi have announced that they won’t be adopting FLoC.
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Google announced the Privacy Sandbox in 2019 to build a more private web through open standards. The most ambitious aspect is phasing out support for third-party cookies, with Google Chrome now starting a developer test of Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC).
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Google is phasing out Chrome support for third-party cookies and plans to replace them with privacy-preserving alternatives. Once that has occurred, the company “will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products.”
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Back in 2019, Google announced an initiative to build a more private web through open standards. The most ambitious aspect of the Privacy Sandbox is phasing out support for third-party cookies, with the Google Chrome team providing a road map for 2021 today.
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