By Damien Geradin & Dimitrios Katsifis (Geradin Partners)
14 January 2020: After months of speculation, Google finally announced its plan to phase out third-party cookies on Chrome within the next two years. As Chrome boasts a worldwide market share in excess of 64%, the news sent shockwaves in the online advertising industry, whose foundations are largely built on web cookies. Concerns have been expressed that the banning of third-party cookies from Chrome could further strengthen Google and Facebook because of their large addressable first-party audience at scale. As to Google’s proposed “Privacy Sandbox” initiative, which it claims will “fundamentally enhance privacy on the web”, no one really knows how it will be implemented in practice and the industry seems to be confused. This uncertainty could hurt investment in an area that has already lost its attractiveness to investors.
Against this background, this short paper examines Chrome’s policy change and its wider implications on the online advertising industry. Yet in order to appreciate the importance of the announced change we need first to get back to the basics and understand what cookies are and how they are used in online advertising. This is all the more the case considering that, while many people talk about “cookies”, few seem to have a solid understanding of what they are, how they are created, and for which purpose.
Featured News
College Sports Leaders in Intensive Talks to Settle NIL Antitrust Case Against NCAA
Apr 30, 2024 by
CPI
EU Investigates Facebook’s and Instagram’s Handling of Disinformation Ahead of Elections
Apr 30, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Lawsuit Targets Hotel Giants for Alleged Price Fixing with AI
Apr 30, 2024 by
CPI
ABA Seeks to Join FTC Lawsuit Against Amazon Over Antitrust Concerns
Apr 30, 2024 by
CPI
Google Agrees to Pay News Corp for AI-Related Content
Apr 30, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI