Targeted ads: bye-bye cookies, hello Topics

The days of advertising cookies are numbered. These documents recorded by your Web browser each time you visit a site, which allow advertisers to track you on the Internet, will indeed be removed in 2023 from Google’s Chrome browser (used by nearly 65% ​​of Internet users in the world). world). Safari, whose market share is close to 20%, has been blocking these files since 2020. Other cookie files (which, among other things, allow users of a site not to have to recall their preferred language each visit), they are not affected by the measure.

Advertising cookies, also known as third-party cookies, are effective for advertisers, who know website visitors in great detail. Just by looking at Google’s advertising settings, for example, I see that the web giant has listed nearly 200 categories that can define me. Google knows, among other things, that I have a child « between four and five years old », that I like romantic comedies (it’s true!) and that I am interested in technologies. Google obtained this information thanks to the various searches I carried out on its engine, but also in particular using third-party cookie files left on other sites that are not its own (hence the word « third party ») ) and which count each of my visits.

The omnipresence of third-party cookies is also denounced by many privacy protection organizations. This technology, which the American organization for the defense of online freedoms Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) had dubbed « corporate surveillance », makes it difficult to remain anonymous on the Web and lacks transparency (we do not know who we are follows).

“When Google announced its intention to withdraw the Cookies third parties, the objective was to demonstrate that it was a good corporate citizen and that it had the privacy of its users at heart », recalls Jean-François Renaud, partner and co-founder of the digital strategy and marketing agency Adviso . Since Google’s parent company, Alphabet, derives more than 80% of its revenue from advertising, completely removing advertising cookies (which Apple did in Safari) was not an option. An alternative solution had to be found to continue to target Internet users, but without tracking them. That’s what Topics API will attempt to do when the technology launches later this year.

Topics API identifies your top five interests every week

Each week, your five favorite search topics will be determined by Chrome from a list of 350 potential topics (video games, grills and barbecues, fishing, etc.). Your preferences will be stored for only three weeks, and the sites you visit will be informed of your five favorite topics over the previous three weeks. You will have easier access to information: the data will no longer be sent to Google servers, the analysis of the sites you visit will be done locally, on your computer or your telephone. You can also disable Topics API ad tracking, or even remove a specific topic from your profile, so you no longer receive credit card ads if you’re having trouble managing your personal finances, for example.

Note that Topics API is the second solution offered by Google to replace advertising cookies. The first, FLoC, was poorly received last year, since it made it too easy to track users. With its new approach, Google is officially abandoning FLoC.

Better than FLoC and Cookies (it depends for whom)

As of this writing, few advocacy organizations have officially spoken out on Topics API. In an interview with the specialized site The Verge, the EFF notably asserted that the concept represented a considerable improvement compared to FLoC, but being “less scary than FLoC does not necessarily mean that it is good”. However, the organization has not yet published an in-depth analysis of this technology.

On the side of Brave, browser competitor of Chrome which makes its privacy management its trademark, director Peter Snyder argued in a blog post that the improvements made by Topics were minor in terms of respect for privacy. privacy, and that a browser simply should not communicate users’ interests to advertisers.

Google’s vice president of Chrome, Hiroshi Lockheimer, acknowledged on Twitter that some would prefer targeted ads didn’t exist altogether, but such an option isn’t realistic, according to the company. “Many companies (and not just Google!) depend on advertisers to survive so that we — consumers — can enjoy the Internet,” he explains.

Topics API also worries advertisers, but for different reasons. “By decreasing follow-up, [la solution de Google] could be less useful to advertisers”, summarizes the magazine AdWeekwho is interested in the advertising industry.

Will Topics be as effective as the current solution? « That remains to be demonstrated, » said Jean-François Renaud, of the Adviso agency. “On the one hand, advertisers may be able to reach a smaller volume of consumers, but on the other, since there will be fewer topics, perhaps these will be more relevant. »

For Jean-Francois Renaud, another weakness is that Google is replacing open technology — third-party cookies can be used by anyone, including competitors like Amazon and Meta — with proprietary technology, Topics API. The company thus removes a tool from the trunk of its competitors and replaces it with a solution that only it can benefit from. A German media group also called on the European Union on Monday to try to prevent Google from moving forward with the withdrawal of third-party cookies, since this would harm the business model of its members.

Google is walking a tightrope in dropping ad cookies and nipping its FLoC project in the bud. The company must simultaneously protect its revenue, respect the privacy of Chrome users and remain effective for advertisers, its true customers. That none of these three groups totally declare victory, nor completely reject the solution, is perhaps an indication that a certain balance has been reached.