Google’s planned cross-site tracking changes for Chrome are far from earth-shattering, and with a few safety checks, you should be good to go. Let’s take a look at what Google has planned and what folks in the ad tech and martech[1] world need to do:
How Google Chrome’s privacy update affects ad tech
As of this month, Google has implemented a new secure-by-default model for cookies[2], enabled by a new cookie classification system.
This system will stop sending third-party cookies in cross-site requests unless the cookies are secure and flagged through SameSite, which is meant to prevent the browser from sending the cookie along with cross-site requests.
While SameSite is not a particularly new concept, this will be the first time a secure cookie flag will be a requirement for those using Chrome — not just a best practice, as it has been up until now.
Google implemented these new requirements with Chrome 80 on February 4 as the first step in a larger multi-year plan to phase out support for third-party cookies, leaving the ad tech and martech industry with just a few weeks left to make the necessary tweaks to ensure their cookies continue to function properly.
The Google Chrome update means a little change, but a lot of hype for ad tech
Given similar changes that have already been made by browsers like Safari, this new update from Google is not something that should send advertisers into a panic.
If anything, these updates are part of the ongoing trend in creating more stringent policies regarding data and privacy.
While Google represents the most immediate change, Mozilla and Microsoft both have similar updates planned in the future. But while this may soon become the new norm, advertisers need to prepare now in