The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is closely monitoring Google’s evolving Privacy Sandbox initiative despite the tech giant’s major strategy shift announced earlier this year.
Big picture. Google’s original plan to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome faced intense regulatory and industry scrutiny. In a surprise move in July, the tech giant announced it would instead give users a choice on whether to allow or limit third-party cookies.
What’s new. In its latest assessment published Nov. 11, the CMA revealed that competition concerns around the Privacy Sandbox persist, even with Google’s revised approach. The regulator is now working with Google to update the existing commitments to address these ongoing issues.
Key details:
The CMA says its “view is that competition concerns remain under Google’s revised approach” and wants to ensure any changes support continued competition in digital advertising.
Specific areas of concern include Google’s control over the Topics API taxonomy, auction dynamics in the Protected Audience API, and limitations in the Attribution Reporting API.
There are also questions about the impact of requiring Trusted Execution Environments, which some see as potentially advantaging Google’s own cloud platform.
If the CMA cannot agree on updated commitments with Google, it warns it will consider further enforcement action.
Why we care. The CMA’s continued oversight underscores the strategic importance of the Privacy Sandbox and its potential implications for the entire digital advertising ecosystem.
Potential regulatory changes could lead to adjustments affecting ad targeting, competition dynamics, and transparency within the advertising landscape, potentially impacting campaign strategies and audience reach.
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What’s next. The CMA plans a public consultation on any proposed changes to the commitments in Q4 2024. Industry stakeholders, including ad tech companies and publishers, will have a chance to provide feedback.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) also remains closely involved, focused on ensuring both competition and privacy are protected as the Privacy Sandbox evolves.
What they are saying. “We believe our approach supports healthy competition across the industry while improving user privacy. This approach, which lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, is still being discussed with regulators and we will share more details at the appropriate time.” a Google spokesperson told us.
Bottom line. Despite Google’s shift away from a full third-party cookie deprecation, the CMA is maintaining intense scrutiny over the Privacy Sandbox’s development. The regulator wants to ensure any changes preserve competition while also safeguarding user privacy.