Google Proposes U.K. Oversight Role in Retirement of Web Cookies
June 11 2021 - 4:57AM
Dow Jones News
By Sam Schechner
Google pledged to collaborate with U.K. regulators on the
removal of a user-tracking technology from its Chrome browser, one
of several commitments it is offering to apply globally to settle
an antitrust investigation.
The U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that it
had secured the package of commitments from the Alphabet Inc.
company to resolve a probe into whether its plan to end support
next year of third-party cookies would hurt competition in the
online-advertising industry. Among the commitments, Google would
give the authority at least 60 days notice before removing cookies
to review, and potentially impose changes, with regards to any
plan.
Google's retirement of cookies highlights a dilemma in
regulating big tech: protecting user privacy and promoting online
competition can sometimes be at odds, particularly because one of
tech's most popular business models is targeting advertising at
individuals based on their online behavior.
Google, under pressure from privacy regulators and advocates,
announced plans in 2020 to get rid of third-party cookies, which
many companies use to track individuals' browsing habits across
multiple websites. However, advertising companies have since
expressed concerns that Google would benefit from the move, because
it has other ways to track users, for instance, by tapping into
data from its search engine and Chrome browser.
Google said in a blog post that its proposed commitments include
working with U.K. regulators to "resolve concerns and develop
agreed parameters" for the new technologies it is developing to
replace cookies, which it groups under the moniker Privacy
Sandbox.
The company also said it would commit to blocking its own
advertising products from accessing users' web-browsing histories
saved in the Chrome browser to target or measure ads. The company
had previously promised not to build or use replacements for
third-party cookies that track individuals.
The U.K.'s competition authority said it would give competitors
until July 8 to comment on Google's proposed commitments before
deciding whether to make them binding. The competition regulator
said it would work with the country's privacy regulator to evaluate
Google's changes on privacy grounds as well as for their impact on
competition.
"The emergence of tech giants such as Google has presented
competition authorities around the world with new challenges that
require a new approach," said Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of
the U.K. competition authority.
Google's move to settle the U.K. probe is its latest effort to
cope with a rising tide of competition investigations into its
advertising business. On Monday, Google agreed to pay nearly $270
million and to make it easier for competing advertising-tech
companies to use its tools, to settle a French antitrust case.
A group of U.S. states led by Texas sued Google in December 2020
for allegedly operating a digital-advertising monopoly. The
European Commission, the EU's top antitrust regulator, has also
been investigating Google's advertising business.
Write to Sam Schechner at sam.schechner@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 11, 2021 04:52 ET (08:52 GMT)
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