UK Competition Watchdog to Probe Google's Third-Party Cookies Removal Project
January 08 2021 - 6:24AM
Dow Jones News
By Matteo Castia
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said Friday that it
has opened an investigation into Google's proposals to remove
third-party cookies and other functionalities from its Chrome
internet browser, following complaints of anticompetitive
behaviors.
"The investigation will assess whether the proposals could cause
advertising spend to become even more concentrated on Google's
ecosystem at the expense of its competitors," the British regulator
said.
Third-party cookies track help consumers' behavior across the
web to help businesses target advertising effectively. However,
these tools can also cause concerns about consumers' privacy.
To fix the issue, Alphabet Inc.'s Google proposed a number of
changes encompassed into its Privacy Sandbox project, aimed at
disabling third-party cookies on the Chrome and Chromium browser
engines and replacing them with a new set of tools for targeting
advertising deemed as more protective of consumers' privacy.
The CMA said it has received several complaints alleging that
Google would be abusing its dominant position through that project
and so has decided to start a formal investigation into the
case.
"As the CMA found in its recent market study, Google's Privacy
Sandbox proposals will potentially have a very significant impact
on publishers like newspapers, and the digital advertising market,"
CMA Chief Executive Andrea Coscelli said.
Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 08, 2021 06:09 ET (11:09 GMT)
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