Google is dropping plans to eliminate cookies from its Chrome web browser, making a sudden U-turn on four years of work to phase out a technology that helps businesses tracks users online.
The company had been working on retiring third-party cookies, which are snippets of code that log user information, as part of an effort to overhaul user privacy options on Chrome. But the proposal, also known as Privacy Sandbox, had instilled fears in the online advertising industry that any replacement technology would leave even less room for online ad rivals.
In a blog post on Monday, Google said it decided to abandon the plan after considering the impact of the changes on publishers, advertisers and “everyone involved in online advertising.”
The U.K.’s primary competition regulator, which has been involved in oversight of the Privacy Sandbox project, said Google will, instead, give users the option to block or allow third-party cookies on the browser.
Google will “introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time,” Anthony Chavez, vice president of Privacy Sandbox, said in the post. “We’re discussing this new path with regulators, and will engage with the industry as we roll this out.”
Advertisers use cookies to target ads to web users but privacy campaigners say they can be used to track users across the internet.
Google first proposed scrapping cookies in 2020, but the deadline for finishing the work had slipped a few times. Chrome is the world’s dominant web browser, and many others like Microsoft’s Edge are based on the company’s Chromium technology.
Optimus promotes Caralyn Moore to editor
Caralyn Moore has been promoted to editor at Optimus, the production and post house with offices in Chicago and New York. Moore started at Optimus in 2019 as a seasoned assistant editor, next earning the title of senior assistant and now making the jump to editor.
Moore has cut spots for such brands as CDW, Chicago Humanities Festival, Famous Footwear, Hillshire Farm, Walgreens and WW. In addition, she edited the independent feature film All Happy Families, which premiered at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival last fall and is releasing in select AMC Theatres nationwide on September 20.
“Editing is like a big open-ended puzzle, where you only use a fraction of the pieces and there are no right answers (though there are definitely wrong ones),” said Moore. “I love the challenge of finding the right balance of visuals, pacing, music, sound, and information--it’s precarious, it’s challenging, it’s endlessly creative and fun.”
“Caralyn has proven time and again how skilled she is in her craft,” said Angelo Valencia, Optimus managing editor/partner. “Her calming presence always makes you feel you are going to be well taken care of and her attention to detail is second to none. I am so excited for her to showcase her talent for everyone to see.”
Born and raised in Northern Virginia, just outside Washington, DC, Moore was passionate about theater classes at school and making short films with her friends and family. Her love of writing, acting and especially editing, landed her at Northwestern University for film school. Following graduation, Moore spent time in the documentary production world in Washington, DC, and then several years freelance assistant editing back in Chicago.
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