Highlights –     

  • Developers can begin testing code for Topics, FLEDGE, and Attribution Reporting in the Canary Chrome beta today itself.
  • Origin trials will first let Google test experimental Chrome technology with a limited number of people to ensure it’s ready for general use.

Google announced the introduction of ‘origin trials’ for Privacy Sandbox in the Chrome browser, its new cookie-free system to serve targeted ads. The company will first focus on testing ad relevance via a new Topics API along with FLEDGE and Attribution Reporting, allowing remarketing and ad click measurement without tracking user behavior across sites.

The Sandbox is looked upon as an evolving – now closely overseen – ad targeting tech stack proposed by Google to replace tracking cookie-based targeted advertising in Chrome by (at the earliest) the second half of 2023 with alternatives that it argues will be better for users’ privacy yet still effective for generating ad revenue.

Vinay Goel, Product Director, Privacy Sandbox, Chrome, said, “Starting today, developers can begin testing globally the Topics, FLEDGE, and Attribution Reporting APIs in the Canary version of Chrome. We’ll progress to a limited number of Chrome Beta users as soon as possible. Once things are working smoothly in Beta, we’ll make API testing available in the stable version of Chrome to expand testing to more Chrome users.”

Initially, with ‘origin trials’, Google will test experimental Chrome technology with a limited number of people to ensure it’s ready for general use. Developers can begin testing code for Topics, FLEDGE, and Attribution Reporting in the Canary Chrome beta today itself. Eventually, the company has decided to expand trials to a stable version of Chrome to access a larger user subset.

Google will test updated settings that allow users to control their participation in the origin trials. For example, under the “Browser-based ad personalization” section, users can remove various interests estimated by Chrome or remove specific sites that “define your interests.”

Users can also control how ads are measured and also choose how to participate in spam and fraud reduction that helps advertisers detect bots.

Privacy Sandbox recently faced sharp criticism, particularly from the EU and the UK advertisers who claimed that removing cookies would hurt their ad businesses. The government also has concerns that the new system will only strengthen Google’s stranglehold on the online ad marketplace while putting consumer privacy at risk. Last month, however, Google agreed to a legally binding set of commitments with UK regulators to address those issues.